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THE BROWNIE BOOK 


A Manual for Leaders of 
Junior Girl Scouts 



GIRL SCOUTS 

INCORPORATED 
National Headquarters 
189 LEXINGTON AVENUE 
NEW YORK CITY 








THE BROWNIE BOOK 


t/r 

A Manual for Leaders of 
Junior Girl Scouts ^ 


ADVANCE PROOF 
for 

EXPERIMENT and USE in the FIELD 
March, 1922 


GIRL SCOUTS 

INCORPORATED 
National Headquarters 

189 LEXINGTON AVENUE 
NEW YORK CITY 




Copyright, 1922, by 
Girl Scouts, Inc. v * 
All rights reserved 


§)C!.A661543 ^ 


Printed in the United States of America 


Mrs. Selden Bacon, 

116 East 63rd Street, 

New York City. 

My dear Mrs. Bacon: 

In accordance with the decision of the last Executive Board 
meeting, will you be kind enough to work out the Brownie Pro¬ 
gram for the Girl Scout organization, getting in touch with 
authorities on Child Psychology, Physical Education, Child 
Health, Kindergarten workers, and other people who would be 
helpful in developing a program for younger children? 

We are hoping to have this program ready to present to the 
Annual Convention when it convenes in Savannah during the 
week of January 24th. 

Very sincerely yours, 

(Signed) JANE DEETER RIPPIN, 

Director. 

Jan. 20, 1922. 


Mrs. Jane Deeter Rippin, 

National Headquarters, Girl Scouts, Inc., 

189 Lexington Avenue, New York City. 

My dear Mrs. Rippin: 

In accordance with your request of December 2d, we have 
prepared an outline for the National Brownie Program, to 
which we have appended all reference work and actual material 
such as Games, Songs, Stories, and Nature Work, which will 
enable any Brownie Leader, even without previous training, to 
carry out the Program satisfactorily . 

Although the collecting of this reference material has been 
somewhat difficult in the short time allowed us, we have spared 
no effort in order to get it, because we believe that its presence 
in the pamphlet will double its value to the Field, which may 
not find it easy to procure such material for young children. 

We have been very much pleased with the interest and co¬ 
operation shown by everybody whom we have approached in 
this matter. As this field is largely experimental with the Girl 
Scouts, we are much pleased that we have every offer of assist¬ 
ance and practice testing from Kindergartners, Child Psychol¬ 
ogists, and organizations of similar aims all over the country, 
which as a whole, is developing a great interest in this kind of 
Program. 

Yours sincerely, 

(Signed) JOSEPHINE DASKAM BACON, 
Chairman, Publications. 


PREFACE 


In preparing this Brownie Program the following 
sources have been consulted: Brownie Programs de¬ 
veloped in Washington, Cincinnati, Detroit, Minneapolis, 
Montclair, Boston, Westchester County, and England. 

For the general Health work, the programs of the 
Child Health Organization has been freely utilized, with 
the personal consultation of Miss Sally Lucas Jean, the 
Director. 

The active and singing games, dances, sense training 
games, and physical exercises, have been selected by Miss 
Katherine Dabney of our National Educational Depart¬ 
ment, who is peculiarly well fitted for this by her years 
of training and experience as a Director of Physical 
Training in the University of Cincinnati, and as a Scout 
Leader. 

The authorities in these fields who have been followed 
are mainly: Jessie Bancroft, for the bulk of the games; 
Mari Hofer, for the Singing Games and Dances; and the 
New Jersey Department of Public Education, for the 
Physical Exercises. 

By happy accident, Mrs. Miriam Clark Potter has writ¬ 
ten precisely the stories we would have asked for had we 
been given a fairy wish. For over a year the “Pinafore 
Pocket Stories,” have charmed readers of “The New 
York Evening Post,” and we were delighted when she 
said we might print some of them in our Manual. 

We are indebted to Mrs. Lucy Sprague Mitchell, for 
some of her “Here and Now Stories.” 

For general psychological reference, we have consulted 
particularly, the works of Naomi Norsworthy, John 
Dewey and Elizabeth Harrison. 


IV 


In working out the details of this Program, we have 
sought and utilized freely the advice of the following 
practical Educators, and Scout workers: 

Miss Sarah Louise Arnold, Dean Emeritus of Simmons 
College, and pioneer in modern educational theory and 
practice; Mr. Charles F. Smith, of the Department of 
Scouting at Teachers College, Columbia University, 
who has been charged with the preparation of a Junior 
Program for the Horace Mann School, and Miss Eliza¬ 
beth E. Farrell, Director of Ungraded Classes in the 
Public Schools of New York City; Dr. May Ayres 
Burgess, investigator and writer on Educational Mea¬ 
surements; Miss Caroline Lewis, one of our Old Guard 
in Scouting, and author of “Campward Ho!” the Girl 
Scout Camp Manual. 

Acknowledgments to Publishers 

The preparation of this Manual would have been im¬ 
possible without the use of copyrighted material, lent 
to us by the various publishers. 

To the Macmillan Company, who have always been 
very friendly to the Girl Scouts, we are indebted for the 
use of thirteen games, from “Games for Playground, 
Home, School and Gymnasium,” by Jessie Bancroft. 

We have also quoted several excerpts from “The 
Psychology of Childhood,” by Naomi Norsworthy and 
Mary Theodora Whitley. 

To Mr. John Macrae, Vice-President of E. P. Dutton 
Company, we are deeply indebted for his cordial and ac¬ 
tive cooperation in allowing us the use of three sections 
of the “Here and Now Story Book,” by Lucy Sprague 
Mitchell; the advance use of nine stories from “The Pin¬ 
afore Pocket Story Book” by Miriam Clark Potter, and for 
“The Queen Bee,” from Clara D. Pierson; and for ex¬ 
tensive quotations from “Schools of Tomorrow,” by 
John Dewey and Evelyn Dewey. 

In addition Mr. Macrea has been extremely generous 
in helping us with the choice of general reference matter, 
and in giving us large numbers of books for review. 

v 


To A. Flanagan Company of Chicago, we are indebted 
for the use of eight selections from “Children’s Singing 
Games, Old and New,” and four selections from “Popu¬ 
lar Folk Games and Dances,” by Mari R. Hofer. 

To George W. Jacob Company of Philadelphia, we are 
grateful for the use of two selections from “Trails to 
Woods and Waters,” by Clarence Hawkes. 

We wish also to acknowledge our debt to the following 
publishers from whose books selections and quotations 
have been made without special personal consultation: 

Star Gazette Publishing Company for the selections 
from “Course in Physical Training,” of the Department 
of Public Instruction of the State of New Jersey. 

G. P. Putnam’s Sons, for the text of poems contained 
in “The Golden Staircase, Poems and Verses for Chil¬ 
dren,” by Louey Chisholm. 

The World Book Company, for quotations from 
“Educating by Story Telling,” by Katherine Dunlap 
Cather. 

To the National Kindergarten and Elementary College 
of Chicago for quotations from “A Study of Child 
Nature,” by Elizabeth Harrison. 

Josephine Daskam Bacon 

Chairman, Publications 

Louise Stevens Bryant 

Educational Secretary 


vi 


CONTENTS 


Preface 

Sections : 

I. The Brownies. 3 

1. Organization . 3 

2. Promise and Laws. 7 

3. Brownie Grades . 10 

4. Model Brownie Meeting. 17 

5. Brownie Ceremonies. 20 

6. Bits for Brownies. 23 

7. Brownie Busy-ness. 24 

II. Games for Brownies. 25 

1. Songs and Singing Games. 28 

2. Special Brownie Games.. 46 

3. Active Group Games.,64 

4. Classified List of Games. 86 

III. Stories for Brownies. 90 

1. For Littlest Brownies. 92 

2. Pinafore Pocket Stories. 103 

IV. Nature Study for Brownies. 118 

1. Nature Stories. 121 

2. Nature Study References. 148 

3. Nature Poetry. 150 

V. Healthy Brownies . 166 

1. Brownie Every Day Book. 170 

2. Physical Exercises. 171 

Index. 174 

vii 


































WHY BROWNIES? 


The following statement taken from “Schools of To - 
morrow ” by John Dewey and Evelyn Dewey, summarizes the 
social and educational need for such a program as that of 
Girl Scouts and equally that of the Junior Girl Scouts, or 
Brownies. 

“In the United States there was for a long time a 
natural division of labor between the book-learning of 
the schools and the more direct and vital learning of 
out-of-school life. It is impossible to exaggerate the 
amount of mental and moral training secured by our 
forefathers in the course of the ordinary pursuits of 
life. They were engaged in subduing a new country. 
Industry was at a premium, and instead of being of a 
routine nature, pioneer conditions required initiative, 
ingenuity, and pluck. For the most part men were 
working for themselves; or, if for others, with a pros¬ 
pect of soon becoming masters of their own affairs. 
While the citizens of old-world monarchies had no 
responsibility for the conduct of government, our fore¬ 
fathers were engaged in the experiment of conducting 
their own government. They had the incentive of a 
participation in the conduct of civic and public affairs 
which came directly home to them. Production had 
not yet been concentrated in factories in congested 
centers, but was distributed through villages. Markets 
were local rather than remote. Manufacturing was still 
literally hand-making, with the use of local water¬ 
power; it was not carried on by big machines to which 
the employed “hands” were mechanical adjuncts. The 
occupations of daily life engaged the imagination and 
enforced knowledge of natural materials and processes. 

Children as they grew up either engaged in or were 
in intimate contact with spinning, weaving, bleaching, 
dyeing, and the making of clothes; with lumbering, 
and leather, saw-mills, and carpentry; with working of 
metals and making of candles. They not only saw the 
grain planted and reaped, but were familiar with the 
village grist-mill and the preparation of flour and of 
foodstuffs for cattle. These things were close to them, 
the processes were all open to inspection. They knew 
where things came from and how they were made or 
where they went to, and they knew these things by 
personal observation. They had the discipline that 
came from sharing in useful activities. 

I 


2 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


While there was too much taxing toil, there was also 
stimulus to imagination and training of independent 
judgment along with the personal knowledge of ma¬ 
terials and processes. Under such conditions, the 
schools could hardly have done better than devote 
themselves to books, and to teaching a command of the 
use of books, especially since, in most communities, 
books, while a rarity and a luxury, were the sole means 
of access to the great world beyond the village sur¬ 
roundings. 

But conditions changed and school materials and 
methods did not change to keep pace. Population 
shifted to urban centers. Production became a mass 
affair, carried on in big factories, instead of a household 
affair. Growth of steam and electric transportation 
brought about production for distant markets, even for 
a world market. Industry was no longer a local or 
neighborhood concern. Manufacturing was split up 
into a very great variety of separate processes through the 
economies incident upon extreme division of labor. 
Even the working men in a particular line of industry 
rarely have any chance to become acquainted with the 
entire course of production, while outsiders see practi¬ 
cally nothing but either the raw material on one hand 
or the finished product on the other. Machines depend 
in their action upon complicated facts and principles of 
nature which are not recognized by the worker unless 
he has had special intellectual training. The machine 
worker, unlike the older hand worker, is following 
blindly the intelligence of others instead of his own 
knowledge of materials, tools, and processes. With the 
passing of pioneer conditions passed also the days 
when almost every individual looked forward to being 
at some time in control of a business of his own. Great 
masses of men have no other expectation than to be 
permanently hired for pay to work for others. In¬ 
equalities of wealth have multiplied, so that demand for 
the labor of children has become a pressing menace to 
the serious education of great numbers. On the other 
hand, children in wealthy families have lost the moral 
and practical discipline that once came from sharing 
in the round of home duties. For a large number there 
is little alternative, especially in larger cities, between 
irksome child labor and demoralizing child idleness. 
Inquiries conducted by competent authorities show that 
in the great centers of population opportunities for 
play are so inadequate that free' time is not even spent 
in wholesome recreations by a majority of children.” 


SECTION I 

BROWNIES 


BROWNIES ARE JUNIOR GIRL SCOUTS 

FOR 

FUN : HEALTH : HELP 
IN BUNCHES OF SIX 
AND 

BANDS OF BUNCHES 
THEY PLAY : SING : DANCE 
WATCH NATURE : SHARPEN WITS 
HELP MOTHER 
IN ONE WORD 
THEY SCOUT 


PART 1. ORGANIZATION 

Age —The Brownies are Junior Girl Scouts. 

They must be at least seven years old. The upper age 
limit is determined not by years, but by school grade, all 
girls through the fifth grade being eligible. This results 
practically in the upper age limit being ten. 

This classification of ages has been chosen because it 
is in line with the modern practice of grouping children 
according to mental, rather than chronological age. (The 

3 



4 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


Girl Reserves, for example, make the seventh grade their 
entrance requirement.) 

The reason for including the tenth year in the group is 
because there are relatively few Girl Scouts of this age. 
A census of 10,000 Scouts taken in 1920 showed only 73 
ten-year-old Scouts per thousand. This indicates that ten 
years is too young for the average Scout, and that the 
few of that age would more advisedly be classed with the 
Brownies. 

The English system provides no minimum age for 
Brownies, thus making possible the mingling of children 
of five and six, with those of ten and eleven, which modern 
American experience has proven to be quite impractical. 
Children of six are either in kindergarten, where the work 
is practically a continuous Brownie program, or just be¬ 
ginning the first grade, where there is very little difference, 
and where the novelty of group work and first leaving 
home should be a sufficient tax on the child. In this con¬ 
nection, too, we would point out that the care of children 
under seven is quite a responsibility, and forms a special 
class of work which should not be confused with the kind 
of attention required for a slightly older child. 

Brownie Band—A Brownie Band is composed of several 
Bunches. Each Bunch has five or six Brownies. It is not 
advisable to form a Band of less than two Bunches, as the 
basis of play is the round game and the group, and a group 
of six is too small to divide into sides. 

Each Bunch may choose some distinguishing name, as 
“Hill Brownies," “River Brownies/' “Tree Brownies," 
“Mountain," “Lake," “Forest," “Pasture," and so forth. 
Or any other kind of name, such as the different Fairies, 
Elves, Sprites or Gnomes, if preferred. Note, however, 
that few of these are known to all children, and the scheme 
is therefore somewhat artificial. 

The three grades of Brownies are called “Bees," (tender¬ 
foot) ; “Bob Whites," (second class), and “Beavers" (first 
class). 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


5 


Alliteration is dear to children and easy to remember. 
Hence the letter *‘B” has been used as a sort of Brownie 
symbol, and its uses in posters, mottoes, and cut-outs is 
obvious: 


B rownie 
and 
unch 


^ob White 
eaver 


B rown 
Fairy 


Leaders—The Brownie Leader is known as the “Brown 
Fairy.” She is a regularly registered and commissioned 
Girl Scout Officer, with the same requirements as those 
of Captain. It is unwise to dogmatize on the question 
of ages. In' general it will probably be found that the 
successful Brownie Leaders will be older than the regular 
Girl Scout Captain since experience in the schools, as well 
as in camps, has shown that children up to ten or eleven 
years old are happier when under the direction of older 
people. 

We would draw attention to the error of supposing that 
the younger Scout Leader is best adapted to Brownie 
work without specialized, i.e., kindergarten or play 
directors’ training. Other things being equal Girl Scouts 
will do better with the Leader slightly older than them¬ 
selves, while the director of little children in every case 
requires a greater special gift, a more intensive love for the 
work, and more specialized training. 

The “Brown Fairy” will have as many assistants as 
necessary, and these may well be chosen from among such 
older Girl Scouts as may happen to have a natural aptitude 
for “getting on” with little children. 

The Patrol System of the older Girl Scouts has not been 
followed because it seems open to doubt whether children 
of the Brownie age are best put in charge of each other 
even to this extent. 

For practical purposes the Brownie Leader will find 
it necessary to give one child temporary charge of each 
Bunch, for assembling and games, )but nothing like the 


6 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


significance of a “Patrol Leader” should be attached to the 
position. 

This would also make a pleasant and novel change when 
the Girl Scout stage is reached, and mark a distinct ad¬ 
vance in responsibility: something to look forward to as 
Scouts. 

Note 

Brownie troops already formed and running smoothly 
are not to conclude from this program that any change of 
names is necessary or desirable if they prefer their own. 
The name of the Brownie Leader, in particular, could with 
advantage be left very flexible, and names, selected either 
by the Leader or children, substituted. For Bands 
which have not yet formed and have no association with 
any other name, the title, “Brown Fairy” is suggested as 
more general than any other, likely to be understood by 
more children, and certainly likely to prove popular with 
the increasing numbers of children who are becoming ac¬ 
quainted with the “Health Fairy” through the general adop¬ 
tion of the program of the Child Health Organization. 
This name has already become dear to thousands of chil¬ 
dren and would form an immediate connection in their 
minds. 

In any case, the word Brownie Leader will always have 
to be employed for clearness in reference. 

Connection with Local Girl Scout Troop—While every 
Brownie troop must, of course, be registered and be a dis¬ 
tinct part of the National and Local Girl Scout organiza¬ 
tion, it should be thoroughly understood that no Brownie 
troop is necessarily “under” the local Girl Scout troop, as 
Brownie troops might be formed in communities where 
there are no Girl Scouts, and as a special Brownie Leader 
would have to be found, in any case, who might quite easily 
be a Leader of greater experience and ability than the 
local Scout Leader. 


PART 2. PROMISE AND LAWS 
Brownie Promise 

1. I promise to try to be good and to obey the laws of 
the Brownie Band. 

2. I promise to help somebody every day, especially 
those at home. 

While no little child can be expected to grasp the essen¬ 
tials of National loyalty and general morality, everyone, 
no matter how young, knows perfectly well that she ought 
to “be good,” and has a practical working idea of what this 
means. This has the advantage of requiring no explana¬ 
tion whatever, and the three laws will supply the details. 

Brownie Laws 

1. A Brownie tells the truth. 

2. A Brownie learns how to keep healthy. 

3. A Brownie never teases, whines nor sulks. 

These simple, practical laws have been selected on the 
principle that if all children followed them, mothers, nurses 
and teachers would have no difficulty in controlling them. 
Truthfulness in children is undoubtedly the greatest single 
virtue. A consistent plan of health would probably be 
the greatest National asset. Lack of whining, teasing and 
sulking are the practical equivalent of “Courtesy” in 
childhood, and the best test of good breeding. 

Brownie Song 

Air—“F-rere Jacques” or “Brother Jack.” 

“We’re the Brownies! Here’s our Aim 
Lend a Hand and Play the Game!” 

The little tune -selected for the Brownie slogan is famil¬ 
iar to everyone, and is sung in all public and private kinder¬ 
gartens. It is also particularly desirable because it can be 

7 


8 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


sung as a round in three groups. It may be sung while 
dancing about in a ring, or standing still, and it is sug¬ 
gested that hands be thrust out at “Lend a Hand/’ and 
that at “Play the Game,” Brownies jump, and clap hands. 


WE’RE THE BROWNIES 


A 




































































THE BROWNIE BOOK 


9 


Teaching Manners* 

“Manners are learned only by constant practice. The teaching 
of manners is not finished for the day when the formal lesson is 
at an end. An ever watchful eye should be constantly kept upon 
the pupils, in work and in play, and prompt correction should be 
made in the right place. ‘Practice makes perfect’ may be said just 
as truly of manners as of anything else. 

Many of the forms of conduct are conventions that have come 
to be accepted by cultivated people. They do not involve ques¬ 
tions of right and wrong. People of different nationalities differ 
in these particulars. Carrying food to the mouth with a fork is 
one of these conventions; taking off the hat rather than the shoes 
on entering the house is another. It is desirable that all children 
be taught those conventional forms of conduct that are funda¬ 
mentally important, for these will help to make life move more 
smoothly for them. However, care should be taken not to dis¬ 
credit the home life of any child. 

Conduct is a series of problems which are met with in our 
social relations. It is not so much the particular form with which 
a given conduct problem is solved, as it is the spirit and intelli¬ 
gence with which it is solved. For example, a pupil is sitting in 
the middle of the room and needs to leave. His problem is to 
leave in the way that will disturb the school least. If he has been 
well trained in ‘manners’ he will look about to see by which path 
he can go with least disturbance. This path may take him to the 
back of the room and down a side aisle, while a direct path would 
lead him in front of a class or a visitor. Children may early 
realize this ‘problematical’ nature of conduct. 

A few definite directions for conduct it may be well for chil¬ 
dren to learn. 

1. Do not look over another’s shoulder to see what he is 

reading or writing without his permission. 

2. Do not listen to the conversation of others without their 

knowledge. 

3. Do not interrupt another person who is speaking. 

4. Do not stare at strangers. 

5. Do not laugh at or talk about the defects, or failures or 

misfortunes of others. 

6. Do not pick the teeth at table or in public. 

7. Be cheerful. 

8. Do not crowd in public places. _ 

9. Do not leave home without saying good-bye. 

10. Do not make a promise that you do not intend to keep. 

11. Keep your appointments. 

12. Always try to do what you agree to do. 

13. Always tell the truth. 

14. Be prompt. 


♦From “Course in Physical Education; Grades I-VI,” State Bd. 
of Ed. N. J., 1917, p. 151. 



PART 3. BROWNIE GRADES 


Rewards and Punishments 

“There should be consistency, too, in the matter of 
rewards and punishments, so that the earlier desire to 
please others may be clearly directed to pass over into a 
conscious determination to do what is known as the right. 
The habit of implicit obedience is still the foundation for 
later faith and the other virtues, though it begins now to 
be transformed into rational obedience. Self-control must 
be developed in newer and newer fields. They must learn 
that though there are many matters in which their pref¬ 
erences may be consulted, there are also very many oc¬ 
casions when “I don’t like to,” or “I don’t want to” makes 
not a particle of difference to the necessity for action. Not 
to learn this lesson early is a tremendous handicap in the 
later, adolescent period. Adults should help children to 
distinguish clearly between times when they may choose 
what is to be done, and times when it is not a question 
of choice, only of loyal and prompt carrying out of orders. 
There must be an inexorable holding to account for deeds 
good or bad that children may feel the force of social law 
and individual responsibility. Impulses to mischief or 
teasing which result in unhappiness to others or harm 
must be inhibited in favor of impulses leading to generous, 
kindly, courteous behavior.”—p. 249 “Psychology of Child¬ 
hood,” by Naomi Norsworthy and Mary Theodora Whitley. 
Macmillan, 1920. 


10 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


II 


Bee 

(Third Class) 



Scout Work 1. Come to three successive meetings. 

2. Know Brownie Promise and Laws. 

3. Tell story of the Bee. 

Home Work 4. Do hair, and tie, or button shoes. 

5. Embroider worsted outline of Bee for 
Brownie cap. 

6. Bring written note from mother that you 
have done the breakfast dishes in a way 
to please her. 

Brownie 7. Write mother’s name and house address 
and telephone number. 

Health 8 . Play Health Game and keep record for 

three weeks in “Brownie Every Day 
Book.” 

Citizen 9. Tell time, day of week, month and year. 



12 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


Scout Work 


Home Work 


Health 

/ 


Citizen 


Bob White 

(Second Class) 



. Describe United States Flag: 

Name Colors. 

Number of Stars. 

Number of Stripes. 

I. Make square knot, and do up parcel fit to 
send by mail or express; address it 
properly. 

I. Know something about three birds, in¬ 
cluding Bob White. 

. Hem dish towel or duster or Brownie tie. 

i. Bring note from mother saying you have 
darned your stockings for a month. 

>. Set the table as your mother likes it set. 

T . Throw ball 30 feet so that someone can 
catch it. 

5. Play Health Game and keep record for 
six weeks in “Brownie Every Day 
Book.”' 

). Make change from a dollar. 





THE BROWNIE BOOK 


13 


Beaver 

(First Class) 



Scout Work 1. Know eight points of the compass. 

2. One stanza of “Star Spangled Banner/' 

3. Know something about five animals, in¬ 
cluding Beaver. 

Home Work 4. Cut bread evenly and pour water without 
spilling. 

5. Clean knives, forks and spoons for three 
weeks. 

6. Hem and finish neck of Brownie cos¬ 
tume. 

Health 7. Bandage cut finger or grazed knee. 

8. Play Health Game and keep record for 
nine weeks in “Brownie Every Day 
Book/’ 

Citizen 9. Carry message in your mind for fifteen 

minutes and deliver correctly. 




14 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


These little tests fall under the heads of Scout work, 
household tasks, health training and “Brownie Citizen 
Work.” They are fairly equally balanced, and will be 
seen to depend largely on home standards and home certifi¬ 
cates. This prevents the embarrassment of Scout stand¬ 
ards contradicting home usage, which would not be advis¬ 
able with young children, and moreover it puts the Lead¬ 
er in touch with the mother. 

The actual Scout work is kept down, because this would, 
if much emphasized, soon pass far beyond Tenderfoot tests 
(the English program, for instance, trespasses on Second 
Class Scout territory). 

No special Merit Badges for the Brownies have been 
suggested, as the tendency of the Girl Scouts to sub¬ 
ordinate eveiything to badge winning is often and in¬ 
creasingly criticized. Even the Scout Leaders have had 
to be checked in this respect, both in this country and 
abroad. It is suggested that it would be interesting to try 
out one class of Scouts on a non-competitive basis. 



Brownie Pin—As the emblem is the only means of link¬ 
ing the Junior branch to the parent organization, it seems 
particularly desirable to maintain the standard Trefoil. All 
Girl Scouts will recognize it and its adaptability to smaller 
children, with its three Brownie animals, the Bee, the Bob 
White and the Beaver. The Brownies in turn will feel 





THE BROWNIE BOOK 


15 


that it binds them to the Girl Scouts, and they will be 
eager to exchange their more juvenile Trefoil for the small¬ 
er, more business like one. 

In general it is to be noted that there will be no attempt 
to make the Brownie a small edition of the Girl Scout. 
To do this would be a grave psychological error, and 
would not make a sufficient change between the Brownies 
and Scouts from the point of view of the girls themselves. 
So many years of continuous Scouting with the same for¬ 
mation and catch words would become very dull and 
monotonous, and leave nothing to look forward to. It is 
for these reasons that the Patrol System, in any form, and 
the Merit Badge system have not been stressed, and that 
the terminology, costume and other details have been 
made on an entirely new plan. 

Costume—(1) Special bloomers and blouses are not 
very practical for regular meetings because for at least 
seven months of the year children require warm cloth¬ 
ing which cannot be removed, and over which special 
uniforms cannot very well be worn. It is therefore sug¬ 
gested that a loose “slip-on” made by cutting a hole in a 
square of simple material will provide a costume which 
appeals to the imagination and which can easily be added 
to any weight or kind of clothes which parents may prefer 
for children’s ordinary wear. Brown (not khaki) cham- 
bray, cotton poplin or “playground cloth,” will not show 
dirt, and will provide a good background for bright em¬ 
broidered symbols (done by Brownies) and would be very 
cheap. These squares can be provided in quantity with 
chalk-marked hole for head, which could be cut out and 
finished by Brownies as part of their work. The peaked 
caps in any brilliant colors, chosen by the different groups 
would add the necessary brightness, and the cut-out ani¬ 
mal symbols can be provided in quantity and sewed on by 
the children as they earned them. 

(2) For outdoor hiking and parades, if preferred, the 
ordinary middy blouse and skirt or bloomers, worn by 
most of the children, would make a sufficient uniform if 


i6 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


supplemented by the tam o’shanters which are in fairly 
common use, and perhaps a brown tie, which could be 
provided in strips and hemmed by the children. 

Registration —Brownies should be registered at National 
Headquarters as soon as they have passed their “Bee” test. 
They may then wear the Brownie costume and the pin. 
The fee is 25 cents a year for each Brownie, and 50 cents 
for the Brownie Leader. See the Blue Book of Rules for 
details. 


PART 4. MODEL BROWNIE MEETING 
Outdoors, Wherever Not Impossible 

(Two Hours) 

Brown Fairy sounds bell for signal: 

1 long ring: Listen ! 

3 rings: Form Brownie Ring! 

(A) Opening Meeting, 10 minutes. 

1. Form Brownie ring around some growing plant, or 
other living thing. 

2. Sing Brownie Song (as a round, when possible, to 
“Frere Jacques”). 

3. Repeat Laws and Promise. 

4. Volunteer Brownie Bits (p. 23). 

Here add enrollments, if any. 

(B) Story Telling (pp. 91 and 119), 15 minutes. 

(C) Ten Minute Twistings (p. 171), 10 minutes. 

(D) Wit Sharpening (p. 49), 10 minutes. 

(E) Brownie instruction and reports on progress, 30 min¬ 
utes. 

(F) Talk on Laws and Promise, 5 minutes. 

(G) Brownie Games (p. 25), 25 minutes. 

(H) Closing, 15 minutes. 

Get room in order, take off costumes and put away. 
Put on street clothes, form ring and choose good-bye 
song, ending with Brownie calls. (Bees buzz, Bob 
Whites whistle and Beavers bang.) 

17 


i8 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


Notes: (A) Every schoolroom, playground, home and 
outdoor meeting place will contain something growing and 
living. Each Brownie Band may take pride in securing 
and tending its own plants, aquarium or what not. 

This seems more in line with healthy modern child psy¬ 
chology than such obsolete and doubtful suggestions as 
“totems” or imitation plants or animals. 

(B) The specimen stories included in this book are in¬ 
tended only as guides and samples. A leader will use any 
others suggested by experience or initiative. They include 
the myth, the modern nature story, and the application of 
simple science in .story form. 

(C) The “Ten Minute Twistings” are taken bodily from 
the remarkably ingenious arrangement of physical exer¬ 
cises in use in the New Jersey Public School System. 
(Course in Physical Training: Grades I to VI, September, 
1917.) In the shape of picturesque, imitative motions, this 
little program exercises every muscle as thoroughly as the 
most rigid “setting-up” drill, with none of its stiffness or 
monotony. 

(D) This training of the senses lays the foundation for 
all of the quick observation which the Scout movement is 
supposed to stress. Its basis is the foundation of the Mon- 
tessori system, and it is generally admitted to supply one 
of the great needs of our modern, over-civilized culture. 

(E) This time is for actual work in the Brownie grades, 
testing and practice. Instead of the more advanced Patrol 
System, it is recommended that “Bob Whites” (second 
class) should help “Bees” (third class) and “Beavers” 
(first class) help “Bob Whites.” This is less rigid than 
the Patrol and more along the lines of simple, childish 
helpfulness. It is doubtful whether such young children 
could be wisely allowed to “Captain” each other without 
becoming dictatorial. 

(F) This discussion on Laws and Promise should be 
brief and concrete. The section on Courtesy, from the 
same New Jersey Public School book (p. 8) is recom¬ 
mended as material here. 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


19 


(G) The games supplied in this book are merely for 
guidance and suggestion. They have been carefully com¬ 
piled by an experienced play director on the basis of their 
wide popularity and tested suitability to the Brownie age. 

It is suggested that two-thirds of the allotted time be 
spent on games in general, and one-third on the special 
Brownie Games (p. 47), which are practically drills in 
Public Safety. It is hoped that others of this type may be 
collected and invented. 

In general it will be noted that a careful alternation 
of active and quiet work has been made; and it is highly 
recommended that all Leaders carefully observe these short 
periods. The natural inclination to allow their own interest 
in any one part of the work to carry it beyond the al¬ 
lotted time, prevents a well rounded afternoon and fatigues 
and bores young children, who cannot stand too long con¬ 
centration upon any one line. 

While all trained kindergartners and play leaders under¬ 
stand this, amateurs are apt to forget it, and it is for this 
Teason that the preceding “meeting” was worked out in 
detail, as a help to beginners. The particular schedule is by 
no means intended, however, as an ironclad rule or system, 
and any Leader in possession of a better division of time is 
urged to use it, and to let us know about it. 


PART 5. BROWNIE CEREMONIES 


Bee Enrollment 

1. Form Brownie ring 

2. New Bees form inner ring around Brown Fairy. 
Brown Fairy: (to the New Bees) “New Bees, you have 

learned the Brownie Laws, and the Brownie Prom¬ 
ise; will you try your best to keep them?” 

New Bees: (together) “Yes!” 

Brown Fairy: “Show us that you know the Laws!” 

(New Bees repeat them.) 

Brown Fairy: “Show us that you know the Promise!” 
(New Bees repeat it.) 

Brown Fairy (to Brownie ring) : “Brownies, shall we wel¬ 
come these New Bees to our Brownie Band?” 
Brownies (together) : “Yes!” 

Brown Fairy (to each New Bee, in turn, shaking her hand) : 
“Mary, you have earned your Bee, and you may 
sew it on your cap. I am sure you will make a 
good Brownie!” 

The New Bees dance around, giving their cry, while 
the Bob Whites and Beavers answer with theirs. 
This and the following enrollment ceremonies have been 
designed to give the children themselves a definite and im¬ 
portant part in them. 


Bob White Enrollment 

1. Form Brownie ring. 

2. New Bob Whites form inner ring around Brown 
Fairy. 

Brown Fairy: “New Bob Whites, you have proved to me 
that you have outgrown the Bees and are now big 
enough to be real Bob Whites. Do you think you 
20 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


21 


have learned more about the Law and the Promise 
than when you were Bees?” 

New Bob Whites: “Yes, we dol” 

Brown Fairy: “A Bob White is bigger than a Bee, but 
that only means that she knows more ways to Lend 
a Hand! Will you try to remember this?” 

New Bob Whites : “Yes, we will!” 

Brown Fairy (to Brownie Ring) : “Brownies, these Bob 
Whites are expected to help all Bees and be respect¬ 
ful to all Beavers; will you try to remember this?” 
All Brownies: “Yes, we will!” 

Brown Fairy (to each new Bob White in turn, shaking her 
hand) : “Mary, you have earned your Bob White, 
and you may sew it on your cap. I know you will 
remember that the bigger the Brownie, the more she 
must do!” 

The New Bob Whites dance around, giving their cry 
while the Bees and Beavers answer with theirs. 

This second grade ceremony calls the children’s atten¬ 
tion to the fact that they have advanced, and suggests 
greater cooperation and responsibility on their part. 


Beaver Enrollment 

1. Form Brownie Ring. 

2. New Beavers form inner ring around Brown Fairy. 

Brown Fairy: “New Beavers, you have passed the high¬ 
est Brownie test, and you are ready to be full- 
grown Girl Scouts, as soon as you are old enough. 
Do you understand now that all our Brownie work 
and play has taught us a lot of useful things, besides 
giving us a lot of fun?” 

Beavers: “Yes, we do!” 

Brown Fairy: “Are you going to stop Lending a Hand, 
now, or are you going right on ?” 

Beavers : “We’re going right on!” 


22 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


Brown Fairy (to Brownie Ring) : “Brownies, the Beavers 
are the biggest, wisest and busiest people in our 
Brownie Band; are you willing to be led by them 
and take their advice and try to join them as soon as 
you can?” 

All Brownies: “Yes, we are!” 

Brown Fairy (to each new Beaver in turn, shaking her 
hand) : “Mary, you have earned your Beaver and 
you may sew it on your cap. I know I can depend 
on you to help me and the Brownie Band, and to be 
a loyal Girl Scout some day!” 

The New Beavers dance around, giving their cry, 
while the Bees and Bob Whites answer with theirs. 

This first grade ceremony definitely links the Brownie 
to the Girl Scouts and reminds her that to be a Girl Scout 
Tenderfoot is her natural objective. 


PART 6. “BITS FOR BROWNIES” 


These “Bits” should be added to, and suggestions for 

them are requested. 

1. A Brownie should never buy anything that she can 
make. 

2. A Brownie should never ask anyone to do for her a 
thing she can do herself. 

3. A Brownie should never lend or borrow a handkerchief. 

4. A Brownie should never lend or borrow bites of apple 
or candy or anything else to eat. 


23 


PART 7. “BROWNIE BUSY-NESS” 


1. Bureau drawers. 

2. Shoes shined 

3. Allowance kept account of. 

4. Spots on tablecloth kept off. 

5. Night clothes aired. 

6. Errands run. 

7. Street clothes put away on entering house. 

8. Pick-ups for mother. 

These suggestions as to “Brownie Busy-ness” may be 
made with a basis of credits to the Bunches in any one 
Band, or used as rivalries between Bands. There is not 
the objection to reporting them that has often been urged 
against reporting “good turns, 1 ” as they are definite and 
desirable social accomplishments, that form good practical 
habits, and need not produce any self-consciousness in re¬ 
porting. 


24 


SECTION II 


GAMES FOR BROWNIES 


“Old Homer, back in the past ages, shows us a charming 
picture of Nausicaa and her maidens, after a hard day’s washing, 
resting themselves with a game of ball. Thus we see this most 
free and graceful plaything connected with that free and beauti¬ 
fully developed nation which has been the admiration of the world 
ever since. Plato has said, ‘The plays of children have the might¬ 
iest influence on the maintenance or non-maintenance of laws’; 
and again, ‘During earliest childhood, the soul of the nursling 
should be made cheerful and kind, by keeping away from him sor¬ 
row and fear and pain, by soothing him with sound of the pipe 
and of rhythmical movement.’ He still further advised that the 
children should be brought to the temples, and allowed to play 
under the supervision of nurses, presumably trained for that 
purpose.’’* 

Games should take up the larger part of every Brownie 
meeting. In fact, the whole Brownie program is a game. 
In this Handbook we can give only samples from the hun¬ 
dreds of charming and popular games now happily a part 
of the school equipment from one end of the country to the 
other. Three general types of games are given: 

(1) Singing Games—These are all of them old, some of 
them having their origin in the Folk Songs and Dances 
of antiquity, which have been traced by the curious 
historian to peoples who flourished before Greece and 
Rome'. Like all communal products the tunes and 
words and actions are subject to innumerable variations 
according to locality and period. The only possible rule 


♦From “A Study of Child Nature,” p. 61, by Elizabeth Harrison. 
Pub., National Kindergarten and Elementary College, Chicago, 
1918. 


25 



26 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


for avoiding bitter and quite futile disputes is to remember 
Kipling’s saying, “There are nine and sixty ways of con¬ 
structing tribal iays, and every single one of them is right.” 

We have taken text and music from two books by Mari 
Ruef Hofer, whose work is of unquestioned scholarliness, 
and has been tested by years of practical schoolroom ex¬ 
perience, with the consent of the pub. (A. Flanagan & Co., 
Chicago). 

Persons interested in the significance of these singing 
and dancing games, in relation to present day education 
and recreation, will want to read the introduction, to Eliza¬ 
beth Burchenal’s books, “Folk Dances and Singing Games” 
and “Dances of the People; A Second Volume of Folk 
Dances and Singing Games,” both published by G. Schir- 
mer, New York. 

(2) Special Brownie Games —Under this heading are in¬ 
cluded games which have either been devised for the Scout¬ 
ing program or other organizations with similar aims. 

Under the title, “The Wide-Awake Games,” are listed 
some Sense Training Games. These are given as sugges¬ 
tions. The Brownie leader will find that variations and ex¬ 
tensions suggest themselves quite readily. Some interest¬ 
ing examples of this sort of game will be found in the 
Handbook of the Girl Pioneers of America. 

Finally, there are safety games of various sorts. 

(3) Group Games, involving running, jumping, and skill 
in ball throwing, and so forth. Most of the games given 
here are well known and as universal in origin as the Sing¬ 
ing and Dancing Games. Thirteen of the gajn.es are taken 
from Jessie Bancroft’s “Games for Playground, Home, 
School and Gymnasium,” Macmillan. This is the best all 
round source book. The Brownie leader will find that she 
will wish to own this book, and should read the introduc¬ 
tion, the chapter on “Counting Out,” page 37, and the 
chapter called, “Feats and Forfeits,” page 245. There are 
hundreds of games in this book, and they are carefully 
classified in the index (page 427f5f) by ag£s and also ac¬ 
cording to whether they are for outdoor or indoor use. 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


27 


Organized Play and Rules of Leaders 

Story Plays, Rhythm Plays and Games should have joy and 
frolic as their dominant note. This does not mean that the play 
will be free and unsupervised. Indeed, nothing is more foreign 
to the truth than the belief that the child has his happiest mo¬ 
ments while tumbling about by himself or with his companions. 
All recreational activity must have leadership. The first thing any 
of us do when we are seeking for enjoyment is to band together 
for such enjoyment. The child is not different from the adult. 
Indeed, in a crude way he chooses a leader in his desultory play, 
for he either starts the romping himself or follows the foolish 
antics of another. 

It is fortunate that we can help the child organize his fun ad¬ 
vantageously, arouse his interest, and make him supremely 
happy. We are able so to choose his play that he may sharpen 
his wits, overcome his awkwardness, and develop his endurance 
and bodily control. We can choose for him types of games and 
play suited to his physiological age, in order that he may reach 
the goal of obedience, respect for rules and regulations, orderly 
conduct, courtesy, self-restraint, self-control, loyalty, honesty, 
sense of justice and habits of sociability, and perhaps save him a 
long road of futile effort in the wrong direction. 

By teaching the child and supervising his recreation not too 
obviously, we shall be a help to him and shall furnish him amuse¬ 
ment far beyond his own powers of devising. 

One unobtrusive method of obtaining results in supervised 
play is by the group method, with the help of pupil teachers. 

Course in Physical Training, N. J. State Board of Education, 
pp. 29, 30. 


PART 1. SINGING GAMES 


The natural desire of children to play can, of course, be made 
the most of in the lowest grades, but there is one element of the 
play instinct which schools are utilizing in the higher grades— 
that is, the instinct for dramatization, for make-believe in action. 
All children love to pretend that they are some body or thing 
other than themselves; they love to make a situation real by 
going through the motions it suggests. Abstract ideas are hard 
to understand; the child is never quite sure whether he really 
understands or not. Allow him to act out the idea and it becomes 
real to him, or the lack of understanding is shown in what is done. 
Action is the test of comprehension. This is simply another way 
of saying that learning by doing is a better way to learn than by 
listening—the difference of dramatization from the work already 
described lies in the things the child is learning. He is no longer 
dealing with material where things are needed to carry an act 
to a successful result, but with ideas which need action to make 
them real. Schools of Tomorrow. Dewey, p. 119. 


28 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 

TEN LITTLE INDIANS* 


American 


29 



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30 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


TEN LITTLE INDIANS—Concluded] 



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TEN LITTLE INDIANS 

Hofer: “Singing Games/’ p. 24. Directions: Counting Game. 
While singing one, two, three, etc., children suddenly appear one 
by one and stand in a row, disappearing to the second verse in 
like manner. After counting up to ten the children may all join 
hands and hop to the singing of the first verse, then silently 
disappear to the counting of the last verse. Let them come in 
hopping, Indian fashion, also hopping in the circle instead of 
dancing. 

First—Form circles. Squat; hop up as called. 

Second—Squat down. Dance in places till called. 

SNAIL GAME 

Hofer: “Singing Games,” p. 26. Directions: As they sing the 
children form a line, join hands, and march in long winding line. 
The leader (the snail) then stands still while the line winds about 
him to form the shell. When the shell is formed all repeat: 

“The snail lives in his hard round house 
In the orchard under the tree; 

Says he: ‘I have but a single room, 

But it’s large enough for me.’ 

“The snail in his little house doth dwell 
From week’s end to week’s end 
You’re always at home, Master Snail, that's very well, 

But you never receive a friend.” 

As the children cease repeating the above two verses, the shell 
unwinds, and the children choose another snail. 


























THE BROWNIE BOOK 


31 


SNAIL GAME* 


German 





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lit - tie shell Would have held us all so well?’' 

lit - tie shell Would have held us all so well?” 



* Arr. by Mari R. Hofer. 






















































































































32 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


GREETING AND MEETING* 

Swedish 


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ENGLISH MAY GAME* 



Boughs in May, boughs in May; Here we come gath-er - ing 


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* Arr. by Mari R. Hofer. 















































































THE BROWNIE BOOK 


33 


GREETING AND MEETING 

Hofer: “Popular Folk Games,” p. 5. A very good game with 
which to organize a large number of small children. Introduce 
the game by letting one child choose a partner and then both 
choose, etc., until all are chosen. Even the smallest will soon be 
able to play the game in the form given below. 

I. Form two circles by having all the children take part¬ 
ners, then turn and face each other in the circle, one in 
and the other out. 

II. According to Swedish directions, the outside chil¬ 
dren bow to inside children to the first two measures; in¬ 
side bow to outside, to next two. At “Will you dance?” 
etc., join right hands, shaking them, cross with left and 
skip to the repeat with la. In the usual way, both children 
bow together twice. 

III. At the close, children bow to each other and both 
step forward one to the left, which makes change of part¬ 
ner and then dance is repeated. Observe time of last two 
measures. 


ENGLISH MAY GAME 

Hofer: “Popular Folk Games,” p. 32. This old English folk 
game is supposed to symbolize the conflict between summer and 
winter. 

1. Here we come gathering boughs in May, 

Boughs in May, boughs in May, 

Here we come gathering boughs in May 
This cold and frosty morning. 

2. Whom will you have for your bough in May, etc. 

3. We will have Mary for our bough in May, etc. 

4. You may have Mary for your bough in May, etc. 

5. Whom will you have to pull her away, etc. 

6. We will have Katie to pull her away, etc. 

I. The children form in two lines of equal length, facing 
each other with sufficient space between to admit of their 


34 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


RABBIT IN THE HOLLOW* 


German 



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Arr. by Mari R. Hofer. 
















































































































































THE BROWNIE BOOK 


35 


walking backward, and forward. The two lines sing alter¬ 
nating verses, marching as they sing. 

II. At the end of the sixth verse a handkerchief is 
thrown on the ground, and the two children matched 
against each other join hands (right) and endeavor to pull 
each other over. The child pulled over is the captured 
bough and joins the side of the capturers. 

III. The game is then again started by the victorious 
line. This is repeated until all have been chosen and the 
game may be ended by a grand tug of war. 

The word bough is also interpreted “knots” and its cor¬ 
rupt form “nuts” in May is drawn from this. The words 
are chanted to the well known air of the “Mulberry Bush.” 
The game should be sung without piano accompaniment 
as in village play. 


RABBIT IN THE HOLLOW 

Hofer: “Popular Folk Games,” p. 23. This game has many 
versions in the German, of which this is one of the most accep¬ 
table. 

I. One child crouches in the center of the ring while the 
hunter roams without. The children in the ring chant and 
march around. 

II. When they come to “run, run, run,” the hunter from 
without breaks through while the rabbit escapes and is 
pursued. If caught he becomes the hunter while another 
child is chosen for the rabbit. 

III. “Hop, hop, hop,” “hide, hide, hide,” are actions for 
other verses which the child in center must imitate. At 
“hide” all the children seek to shield the rabbit while the 
hunter must break through and the chase is again made. 


36 THE BROWNIE BOOK 

OLD DAN TUCKER* 

( American Barn Dance ) 








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THE BROWNIE BOOK 


37 


OLD DAN TUCKER—Concluded 



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(American Barn Dance.) 


Hofer: “Popular Folk Games,” p. 56. To catch the true flavor 
and spirit of this dance one needs to have heard and seen it in the 
backwoods with a veteran fiddler whining the figures for the 
delectation of the dancers. One of the many verses sung to this 
air is as follows: 


Old Dan Tucker was a nice old man, 

He used to ride the darby ram, 

He sent him whizzing to the foot of the hill 
If he’s not got up he’s lying there still. 
Cho. Oh, clear the way for old Dan Tucker 
Came too late to get his supper, etc. 


The common way of playing this is at present being re¬ 
vived in ballrooms. All take partners and form a ring 
around a central player, “Tucker.” At a signal all stop, 
swing ladies, and then form the grand chain; while this is 
done “Tucker” enters the ring and tries to get a partner, 
when at the next signal all stop and dance with partner 
around the room; the one left over goes to the center of 
the circle to try his luck the next time. 

























38 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 

THE KING OF FRANCE* 


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THE BROWNIE BOOK 


39 


THE KING OF FRANCE 

Hofer: “Singing Games,” p. 8. Directions: Children stand in 
two opposite rows facing each other. One child marches between 
the two rows giving gestures and singing. As she steps back the 
tw r o rows repeat, marching toward each other and back to place. 
A new leader is occasionally chosen. Other impersonations 
may be used, but it is well to keep them within the sphere of the 
soldier, until that is exhausted. 

The king of France with forty thousand men 
Gave salute and then marched back again. 

The king of France with forty thousand men 
Beat their drums and then marched back again. 

The king of France with forty thousand men 
Blew their horns and then marched back again. 

The king of France with forty thousand men 
Waved their flags and then marched back again. 

The king of France with forty thousand men 
Drew their swords and then marched back again. 

The king of France with forty thousand men 
Shouldered arms and then marched back again. 

FARMER IN THE DELL 

Hofer: “Children’s Singing Games,” p. 20. Directions: This 
game is modelled after the old street favorite. The children 
move in the circle singing. One child stands in the center and at 
the singing of each verse one child is called in to represent the 
farmer, wife, man, etc. The privilege of choosing each time falls 
upon the last one called in. The one who catches the mouse then 
becomes the farmer, and the game is repeated. 

The farmer in the dell, the farmer in the dell, 

Heigh-ho the derry oh, the farmer in the dell. 

The farmer takes a wife, the farmer takes a wife, 

Heigh-ho the derry oh, the farmer takes a wife. 

The wife keeps the house, the wife keeps the house, 

Heigh-ho the derry oh, the wife keeps the house. 

The man milks the cow, the man milks the cow, 

Heigh-ho the derry oh, the man milks the cow. 

The cow gives the milk, the cow gives the milk, 

Heigh-ho the derry oh, the maid skims the milk. 

The maid skims the milk, the maid skims the milk, 

Heigh-ho hte derry oh, the maid skims the milk. 

The milk gives the cream, the milk gives the cream, 

Heigh-ho the derry oh, the milk gives the cream. 

The cream makes the cheese, the cream makes the cheese, 
Heigh-ho the derry oh, the cream makes the cheese. 

The child wants the cheese, the child wants the cheese, 


40 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


HERE WE GO ROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH * 

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Arr. by Mari R. Hofer. 























































































THE BROWNIE BOOK 


41 


Heigh-ho the derry oh, the child wants the cheese. 

The mouse eats the cheese, the mouse eats the cheese, 

High-ho the derry oh, the mouse eats the cheese. 

The dog smells the mouse, the dog smells the mouse, 

Heigh-ho the derry oh, the dog smells the mouse. 

We’ll all chase the mouse, we’ll all chase the mouse, 

Heigh-ho the derry oh, we’ll all chase the mouse. 

HERE WE GO ROUND THE MULBERRY BUSH 

Hofer: “Singing Games,” p. 18. Directions: The game con¬ 
sists in simply suiting the actions to the words of the song, sing¬ 
ing and circling to the first verse between the activities. It is 
especially attractive to little girls who love to go through the 
dumb show of washing, ironing, sweeping, etc. 

This is the way we wash our clothes. 

We wash our clothes, we wash our clothes, 

This is the way we wash our clothes, 

So early Monday morning. 

This is the way we iron our clothes, 

We iron our clothes, we iron our clothes, 

This is the way we iron our clothes, 

So early Tuesday morning. 

This is the way we scrub the floor. 

We scrub the floor, we scrub the floor. 

This is the way we scrub the floor, 

So early Wednesday morning. 

This is the way we mend our clothes, 

We mend our clothes, we mend our clothes, 

This is the way we mend our clothes, 

So early Thursday morning. 

This is the way we sweep the house, 

We sweep the house, we sweep the house. 

This is the way we sweep the house. 

So early Friday morning. 

This is the way we bake our bread, 

We bake our bread, we bake our bread. 

This is the way we bake our bread, 

So early Saturday morning. 

This is the way we go to church, 

We go to church, we go to church, 

This is the way we go to church, 

So early Sunday morning. 


42 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


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THE BROWNIE BOOK 


43 


LOOBY LOO 

Hofer: “Singing Games,” p. 32. Directions: Children join 
hands in a circle singing and dancing, swaying from foot to foot 
with rhythm of the music for first verse. With second verse 
stand still and imitate action. Repeat first verse as chorus be¬ 
tween activities. 

Put your left hands in. 

Put your left hands out, 

Give your left hands a shake, shake, shake, 

And turn yourselves about. 

Cho. Here we dance looby loo, etc. 


Put all your noddles in, 

Put all your noddles out, 

Give all your noddles a shake, shake, shake, 
And turn yourselves about. 

Cho. Here we dance looby loo, etc. 


Put your right feet in, 

Put your right feet out, 

Give your right feet a shake, shake, shake, 
And turn yourselves about. 

Cho. Here we dance looby loo, etc. 


Then put your whole selves in, 

Then put your whole selves out, 

Then give your whole selves a shake, shake, shake, 
And turn yourselves about. 

Cho. Here we dance looby loo, etc. 


Put your left feet in. 

Put your left feet out, 

Give your feet a shake, shake, shake, 
And turn yourselves about. 

Cho. Here we dance looby loo, etc. 


44 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


THE MUFFIN MAN* 


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THE BROWNIE BOOK 


45 


JOLLY IS THE MILLER—Concluded 


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THE MUFFIN MAN 

Hofer; “Singing Games/' p. 19. Directions; Children stand 
in circle while one in the center dances up to another and asks. 
This one answers and then joins the one in the center. These 
dance and sing “Two of us know the muffin man,” until all are 
chosen, when they sing; “All of us know,” etc. 

Oh, yes, I know the muffin man, 

The muffin man, the muffin man, 

Oh, yes, I know the muffin man, 

That lives in Drury Lane. 


JOLLY IS THE MILLER 

Hofer: “Singing Games,” p. 23. Directions: Form a double 
circle, children marching with linked arms around the miller, who 
stands in the center. Children change partners at the words 
“right steps forward and the left steps back.” The miller then 
has a chance to get a partner. The child left without a partner 
becomes the miller. 











































PART 2. SPECIAL BROWNIE GAMES 


Sense Training* 

“.The ignorance and lack of observation of the com¬ 

mon everyday objects by children of school age are appalling. 
G. Stanley Hall in his historic article on ‘Content of Children’s 
Minds’ and likewise several German investigators, both pre¬ 
ceding and following him, have reached results that seem al¬ 
most incredible. Some of the misconceptions are due to mere 
verbal analogies, e. g. oats grow on oak trees, and butter comes 
from the butterfly, others are due to the activity of the child’s 
imagination and his tendency to interpret everything in terms of 
his own experience, e. g. thunder is God groaning, clouds are 
smoke; but a very large number are due to a simple lack of see¬ 
ing, hearing, and feeling accurately and with attention, the things 
that are in his daily life. It is hard to believe that 53 per cent of 
Boston school children tested had never seen a sunset, 30 per 
cent never saw clouds and 55 per cent were ignorant of the 
source of wooden things; and yet when a high-school graduate 
believed that apples were dug from the ground as are potatoes, 
and a youth that had lived all his life on a farm could not tell 
how a horse lies down, and a country girl did not know a robin, 
one begins to realize how much of false sense perception may 
go uncorrected. Hall, in summarizing his results says, ‘There is 
next to nothing of pedagogic value, the knowledge of which is 
safe to assume at the outset of school life’; and again, ‘the fact 
that children see objects a hundred times without acquiring con¬ 
sciousness of them suggests that we need to converse with children 
about the commonest things.’ ” 

How Is Perception Trained? 

“To have attended to the condition of the sense organs is only 
a beginning, however. Not only must these be in good shape in 
order for proper perception to be developed, but children need 
training in the methods of learning through their senses. It is 
through the action of the sense organs that all mental stuff comes 
from which is built the world of knowledge, of imagination, of 
reason. It is fundamental to intellect, to character, and to con¬ 
duct. Limitation of experience in this field, or incorrectness of 


♦From “Psychology of Childhood,” Norsworthy and Whitley, 
p. 115 and p. 123. 

4 e 




THE BROWNIE BOOK 


47 


perception, must result in a lack of some kind in the more complex 
realms of mental life. All this is known intellectually by teachers 
and educators, but it is far from being a conviction with them. 
Far too little time and thought and preparation are given to the 
refining and enriching of the sensory experience of children. Yet 
much of this is needed if the child is to enter into and possess 
the world of things. He must be given time to touch, look at, 
listen to, feel, lift, perhaps smell and taste, many objects. In na¬ 
ture study he must learn to perceive form, color, number, relative 
size, position by looking, touching, pulling apart, feeling the tex¬ 
ture, getting possibly the temperature, odor, and taste. In music 
he must have tones of varying pitch, intensity, duration; he must 
hear the difference between a note sounded on piano, cornet, 
violin, organ, flute, human voice of different qualities; he must 
feel the effect of groups of successive or simultaneous tones with 
all possible variations again of pitch, intensity, duration, rhythm, 
and color value before he has what we call an ‘ear’ that is culti¬ 
vated. In spelling he must look at, pronounce, write, and listen 
to the letters, syllables, and words. In a cooking lesson, amount, 
color, proportion, texture, space arrangement, distance must be 
tested by eyes and hands, while ears as well as nose may help 
judge processes before taste sits in judgment. The hands must 
acquire skill in movements such as kneading, egg-beating, and 
this depends on discrimination of cutaneous and kinaesthetic sen¬ 
sations. All this needs careful planning by the teacher. Left to 
themselves children’s percepts are hazy, incomplete, and inaccu¬ 
rate. Definite provision and preparation are necessary if the per¬ 
ceptual growth of children is to be what it should be.” 

“The one thing which prevents most of us from being that 
which we might have been, is the dull, stupid way in which we 
have used our senses. Thousands of us having eyes to see, see 
not; having ears to hear, hear not; in the literal, as well as the 
spiritual, sense of the words. Question any two persons who have 
listened to the same sermon or lecture, and you will discover how 
much one has heard which has escaped the other. Talk with any 
intelligent acquaintance about a picture gallery or a foreign city, 
which you both have visited, and you will be covered with chagrin 
by the realization of how much you did not see. 

♦ * * * * 

“Half the wealth of the world is lost to most of us from lack 
of power to perceive. The difference between so-called clever 
children and intelligent ones is largely a difference in their sense 
of perception.” 


From “A Study of Child Nature,” p. 33; by Elizabeth Harrison. 
Published by The National Kindergarten and Elementary College, 
Chicago, 1918. 



48 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


Wide-Awake Games 

1 . Brownie Wits: Seeing—Look at a view at least % of 
a mile away for three minutes and tell exactly what you 
see. Name objects and describe their positions. 

Hearing—a. City. Sitting quietly in a room listen for 
three minutes to the noises outside. List the sounds you 
have heard and tell what produces them. 

b. Country. Sit quietly for three minutes and identify 
the sounds which come from outdoors. Name them. 

Smelling—a. Blindfolded, try to pick out five flowers 
by their perfumes. 

b. In the same way try to pick out five spices. 

Tasting—Taste ten spices and fruits and tell what they 
are. 

Feeling—Close eyes and feel ten different substances, 
such as salt, sugar, flour, dough, clay, wood, iron, paper, 
silk, cotton, wool, and give the name of each. 

The Brownie wins this game who has the greatest num¬ 
ber of correctly listed sounds, odors, foods and objects, seen 
and felt, to her credit. 

2. What do I hear?—The Band should be seated at equal 
distances from the Brown Fairy with their backs turned 
to her. The Fairy will then do such things as: 

1. Turn key in the lock. 

2. Knock on door. 

3. Breathe heavily. 

4. Write on paper with a pencil. 

5. Write on paper with a pen. 

6. Open a door. 

7. Shut a door. 

8. Open a window. 

9. Shut a window. 

10. Rustle her skirt. 

11. Open a drawer. 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


49 


12. Drop a book. 

13. Drop a pencil. 

14. Drop a pin. 

15. Tap on window. 

16. Fold a newspaper. 

17. Crawl across floor. 

18. Tap on a goblet. 

19. Tap on a plate. 

20. Strike a match. 

21. Sweep floor with a broom. 

22. Use a file. 

23. Unlace a shoe. 

24. Move a chair. 

25. Whisper a message. 

The Brown Fairy should take good care to do these 
things in the most confusing order possible. 

The Brownies should write down the cause of each noise 
in order. The Brownie having the greatest number correct 
wins the game. 

3. A Whispered Meeting—The Band must be seated 
in a ring, blindfolded and absolutely silent. The Brown 
Fairy will then call the roll in a whisper. Each Brownie 
will answer her if she hears her own name. 

Beginning with the Brown Fairy, who will whisper “I,” 
the first word of the Brownie Promise, each Brownie will 
add the next word of the promise, when her turn comes, 
in a whisper. In this way the promise, laws, slogan and 
song will be repeated. The Health Alphabet can be re¬ 
peated in the same way. 

Each Brownie must be careful to repeat her word dis¬ 
tinctly and correctly. 

The Brown Fairy or one of the Brownies will then tell 
a short story in a whisper. As she tells the story she may 
leave out important words which can easily be guessed 
by one of the Brownies. When a listening Brownie guesses 
the word she may whisper it to the story teller and the 
story teller will then continue her tale. 


50 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


The following games of “Compass” and “Knots” are 
taken from “Brownies or Bluebirds: A Handbook for 
Young Girl Guides,” by Sir Robert Baden-Powell. Lon¬ 
don. C. Arthur Pearson, Ltd. 1920. Pages 51 to 55. 

4. “Points of the Compass. ‘The Village Clock/ 

“The Brown Owl stands in the middle of the room, and 
the four cardinal points of the compass are chalked on the 
floor in as big a circle as possible. The Brownies stand 
round the walls of the room, the intermediate points of the 
compass are then called out, and the first Brownie to get 
there falls out. They are then chalked in. 

“The Brown Owl now walks round the points of the com¬ 
pass, making the Brownies call out at what time the Sun is 
at those points during the twenty-four hours of the day. 

“The Brown Owl now strikes the hour, either by tap¬ 
ping with her foot on the floor, or by using a little bell, 
and at the same time by a remark signifies whether it is 
a. m. or p. m. The first Brownie to get to the point where 
the Sun is at that time falls out, the Six first out wins, and 
the last Brownie has to pay a forfeit, which is 'to go round 
the compass, calling out the times as the Brown Owl did in 
the beginning. 

“Thus those that know least get more practice, and 
everyone must try as they dare not be the last! 

“Example. The Brown Owl says: ‘Just as Mary was 
getting into bed the village clock struck (nine beats)/ 
The first Brownie to get to the N. W. point wins and drops 
out. “The dinner bell always rings as the clock strikes 
(one beat).” Position a little to the West of South. After 
a little practice it will only be necessary to mark the North. 
This is quite a good game for Guides of all ages. 

5. “Knots. In teaching knots there are two things to bear 
in mind. 

“First, the reason why the knot was invented; it was 
certainly not invented as a conjuring trick to be tied with 
a piece of string round the forefinger! 

“Second, the reason why they have been included in the 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


51 


Test. The answer to the first is, because no other knot 
would do as well. Therefore, go through the process of 
rediscovering it with the Brownies, by applying it to the 
purpose as nearly as possible for which it was invented. If 
this method is adopted, even at some trouble, the answer 
to the second will be found, i. e., the development of Char¬ 
acter, Intelligence and Service. 

“Reef Knot. The Brownies sit in a ring holding the end 
of a piece of cord in their hands. The Brown Owl says: 

“ ‘Who can do this?’ passing the left cord over the right. 
At first from habit they will continue to use the right hand 
when they discover that it is the left that is used; they may 
be allowed to finish the knot as they like, and it will be a 
reef. The next game is for them to find out what is the 
difference between a granny and a reef. Let the Sixes hold 
some grannies and some reef knots behind their backs, and 
let the Brownies come up in file and say which it is by the 
feel. There may be one on view for them to compare 
them by. 

“It will not be long before they discover that the flat ones 
are the reefs, and its advantages in a bandage will be ob¬ 
vious. 

“This latter part can be played as a relay race game, 
followed by another of tying it themselves. 

“Bowline. A knot at the end of a loop, which will not 
slip, made of a bend and a loop, the loop being in the fixed 
rope, and the bend in the free end, otherwise when the 
strain comes the end unbends and it becomes a slip knot. 

“First Game. Fasten a piece of blind cord about three 
yards long from chair to chair, and ask the Brownies to at¬ 
tach their cord to it in such a way that they will not slip 
along it. After several vain endeavors make a loop in 
the line and ask one Brownie to put her cord through the 
loop, and then try; if she is still unsuccessful, show that it 
only goes round the cord and down through the loop. In 
Brownie language: “Once upon a time there was a rabbit 


52 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


hole/* make the loop; “out of the hole came a rabbit/’ put 
the end through; “and it ran round the oak tree/’ pass it 
round the fix cord; “and down into his hole,” through the 
loop again. 

“When this is grasped, make them come up in turn and 
do it in the form of a relay race. 

“Next time let them learn to tie it round their waists and 
the waists of the other Brownies, always keeping one end 
fixed. Now fasten a Brownie by means of a sheet bend, 
making the loop in the fixed part (a very common mis¬ 
take), and let them try and guess what is wrong; show 
how it turns into a slip knot when the pull comes. 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


53 


Safety and Safety Games 

"Safety First, Always, and All Ways/’ summarizes a 
most important item in the life of the Brownie, for it is at 
this age that children are beginning to be left to their own 
devices, and are establishing habits of self-direction and 
caution in moving about by themselves. 

The New Jersey State Department of Education takes 
up the subject of safety training in the Course in Physical 
Training for Grades I. to VI., in the Appendix, from which 
the following quotations have been taken (pp. 179-183) : 


Accidents 

“What we are in the habit of calling ‘accidents’ cannot 
occur except through lack of thought; the child intent on 
its play, the adult intent on other matters, is the victim 
of an “accident.” The mother who gives no thought to the 
danger, permits the child to play with a bonfire or matches; 
permits the child to make the highway a playground, not¬ 
withstanding the fact that there are vacant lots, yards, and, 
in many municipalities, regularly maintained children’s 
playgrounds. The automobile operator, the horse driver, 
the motorman and the locomotive engineer are too often 
blamed for injuries sustained by children when the blame 
properly rests upon the parent, guardian, or teacher, who 
failed to point out the dangers. It is possible by setting a 
good example, and by repeated words of caution, to suc¬ 
ceed in training the child to think “Safety First,” and to 
realize that the chances taken because of lack of thought, 
even though they may not result in personal injury or 
death, are out of all proportion to the pleasure gained or 
the time saved. 

“Caution should not be confounded with fear, and the ex¬ 
ercise of caution, the habit of consideration of “Safety 
First,” need in no manner interfere with work or recreation. 


54 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


There is no rational thing which we desire to do that can¬ 
not be done in a manner consistent with the thought of 
‘Safety First/ 

“The instructor cannot be given exact phraseology to use 
in teaching ‘Safety First.’ Local conditions relative to cars, 
wagons, railroads and other dangers must govern, and the 
prevailing methods of children’s play differ greatly in vari¬ 
ous localities. 

“All play, all work, and all travel can be made much safer 
by the constant “Safety First” thought; and the constant 
mental question should be: Is the pleasure, the gain, or 
the time saved commensurate with the risk about to be 
taken ? 

“The child does not derive sufficient pleasure while play¬ 
ing in the midst of traffic-laden streets to compensate it for 
the enormous risk it takes. 

“The adult hurrying to keep an appointment, or to meet 
an obligation, primarily does wrong in not having started 
sooner, and as a result his mind instead of being alive to 
the constant dangers incident to travel is totally oblivious 
to any thought of “Safety First,” and almost the entire bur¬ 
den of the personal safety of the pedestrian is placed upon 
the engineer, the motorman, the chauffeur, or the horse 
driver. 

“The actual application by the instructor of the following 
matter must, of course, be governed by the age and mental 
capacity of the children taught, but it has been demon¬ 
strated that no school child is too young to understand and 
no adult too old to be in need of the instruction. 

“The instructor must, of course, be permitted to use per¬ 
sonal judgment in presenting the various “danger things.” 
Stories based on local examples of results of accidents, par¬ 
ticipants in which frequently can be found in the school, 
and always amongst the acquaintances of the children, ex¬ 
pressed in terms adapted to the age of the child, will readily 
occur to the instructor whose interest has been sufficiently 
aroused. For example, in order to fix in the minds of the 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


55 


children the word “Safety,” experience has proved the de¬ 
sirability of using the letters composing the word as stand¬ 
ing for things which will appeal to little ones, for instance: 
S Steam and street cars 
A Automobiles 
F Fire 
E Electricity 
T Teams and Think 

“Y You! the person who must think of 'Safety First' 
and the following outline stories are suggested as an ex¬ 
ample of ones that have been told to the smaller chil¬ 
dren, and in different phraseology to even the higher 
grades to impress the word “Safety” upon their minds. 

“Once there was a man who sat before a fire; there 
was a kettle on the fire and it was singing; steam was 
coming out of its nose and the lid was bobbing. He 
watched it a long time and then a fairy whispered in his 
ear—or maybe it was the song the kettle was singing— 
this: 'There’s a Giant in that kettle; catch him and build 
a strong harness around him and he will pull your ships 
across the ocean without sails, and pull your trains across 
the land.’ And they caught the Steam Giant and built 
an iron harness—a machine we call an engine—and he 
pulls ships across the sea and trains across the land. 
His name is Steam. He does great things, goes fast and 
does many good things; but sometimes he does cruel 
things. It you get too near Steam it will burn you— 
scald you; and if you walk on the railroad track, some¬ 
times he can’t stop and runs over you. 

“Another Giant, the Auto Giant, came up out of the 
ground. They dug a deep hole in the ground and instead 
of water a black, shiny, oily thing came up that didn’t 
have a good smell. We call it Oil, but it is really a Giant 
that was asleep in the ground for thousands of years. 
They cleaned this giant and now we call it Gasoline, and 
this giant out of the ground makes the motorcycle go; 
he makes the automobile run; and he makes the flying 
machines sail through the air. 


56 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


“There is another Giant, the Fire Giant. He does good 
things for us, but he hurts boys and girls, too, if they for¬ 
get to think ‘Safety First.’ This giant comes out of the 
end of a match sometimes, and he often burns down great 
forests and cities, your school and your home. 

“The Electric Giant is the greatest of them all. A man 
named Benjamin Franklin went out to fly a kite one day; 
he was a big man—not a boy flying his kite—a man. He 
sent his kite away up into a black cloud where the light¬ 
ning flashed, and he got a message back from the Giant 
there—down the kite string. The Giant tried to hide in 
a lot of places, but they found him up in mountains, in 
the waterfall, in coal and the trees—and they harness 
him with wires and set him to work. They make him 
do a lot of things. He lights up your house; he makes 
the streets and stores almost like day. Over the tele¬ 
phone wire he carries your voice hundreds of miles. He 
carries messages under the ocean, and he pulls our big 
heavy street cars. When you go out of school today, 
just look up and you will see the harness of the Electric 
Giant in every direction. On poles it is strung—big wires 
and little wires, trolley wires and cables; but remember, 
keep away from his harness. Touch one of his wires and 
he knocks you down dead or burns you badly. 

“All of these four Giants—Steam, Auto, Fire and Elec¬ 
tric—are good Giants and do more good than harm. 

“‘Think!’ How many girls and boys here can think? 
Of course, you can think or you wouldn’t be in school. 

“And last of all is this little letter ‘Y’—the smallest of 
them all, but it stands for the biggest part of safety; it 
stands for the boy and girl who think of safety. And 
it stands for the person who is most to blame when you 
are hurt.” 

“By this method it is possible to impress upon the minds 
of the younger children the word safety, in connection 
with those things which are “danger things.” 

Historical facts relative to the invention, perfection, 
and use of the various things which the letters composing 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


57 


the word represent should be commented on in connec¬ 
tion with such stories as may be applicable. Such forces 
as steam, automobiles and fire can be designated as great 
powers or giants that have been partially subdued and 
are now employed by humanity for its business and pleas¬ 
ure, but because of their only partial subjection require 
constant vigilance in their management and proximity to 
prevent their enormous destructive forces doing injury. 

“Good results have been obtained by appealing to the 
larger children to constantly safeguard the smaller, not 
only during, but after school hours. 

“The effect of a constant example of care, mental bal¬ 
ance, thought, and absence of hurry, set by larger chil¬ 
dren and especially by teachers, cannot be overestimated. 

“Don’t play ball, tag, cattie, or any game in the street 
where cars, automobiles, and wagons must run. 

“Do play in the yard, in the playground, or in a vacant 
lot. 

“A child must and should play. The fact that many hun¬ 
dreds of children are hurt yearly while at play on the 
streets in New Jersey should be used as an argument to 
impress upon the children the fact that it is wrong to 
play upon the streets. Point out that the automobiles, 
the motorcycles, wagons, and cars must run on the street 
and the railroad train on its own track; that they do not 
run on the sidewalks, or playgrounds, or vacant lots. 
That at times all of those things run faster than neces¬ 
sary, but at the same time it is essential that these things 
carry people and goods to their destinations as quickly 
as is consistent with safety; that they are large and 
heavy and cannot stop as quickly as a boy or girl. That 
the human being that approaches too close to them is sure 
to be hurt, perhaps crippled for life, or killed. Depict the 
sorrow and loss resulting. 

“Don’t run across the street in front of or just behind a 
car, a wagon, a motorcycle, or an automobile. 

“Do cross the street slowly, after looking both ways, 
and let the “danger things” go past first. 


58 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


“The time gained by risking the danger incurred in hur¬ 
rying in front of a moving vehicle is infinitesimal and by 
the average person is frequently immediately wasted, so 
that it is actually time lost. Much better to have de¬ 
voted it to the proper consideration of the “Safety First” 
thought. 

“Because of their size, weight, and rapidity of motion 
it is not possible for vehicles to come to a stop as quickly 
as the pedestrian can, and pedestrians may well be taught 
that they have “brakes” in their feet which will operate 
instantly, if the feet are placed beside each other and kept 
still. 

“Don’t steal a ride on a car, or wagon, or automobile. 

“Do watch out for the cars, the wagon and automobile 
coming the other way. 

“The amount of pleasure derived on a necessarily short, 
stolen ride does not pay for the risk involved. It is as if 
one voluntarily paid $5 for a five-cent ride, and the num¬ 
ber of fatalities occurring because of the inability of the 
child, when jumping off of a vehicle upon which it has 
been stealing a ride, to see an approaching vehicle, is 
very great. 

“Don’t get on or off a car while it is moving. 

“Do wait until it completely stops before getting on or 
off, and face toward the front of the car when you get off. 

“Nothing is gained by boarding a moving vehicle. It 
will come to a stop before it carries you on your journey. 
No time has been saved and a risk has been run. 

“The largest number of accidents that occur on the 
streets of our cities are those caused by persons leaving 
moving cars and facing backwards when leaving. “The 
right hand is the right hand for the bundle.” Men, 
women and children with their right hands employed in 
holding such things as they may be carrying must of ne¬ 
cessity grasp the hand rail with their left hand, and face 
front. When facing front the liability to accident from 
tripping, sudden starting of the car, high-heeled shoes, 
tight fitting skirts, and high steps is reduced to a 
minimum. 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 59 

“Don’t carry matches loose in your pocket or allow 
small children to have matches or fireworks. 

“Don’t hurry up a fire with oil. 

“Don’t build or play with, or near, bonfires. 

“Do keep matches in a safe place out of reach of chil¬ 
dren, in a metal or china receptacle. 

“The various kinds of safety matches, igniting only on a 
prepared surface, are best. Applied common sense would 
eliminate the numerous accidents resulting in severe, at 
times fatal, burns to children. 

“The bonfire is attractive, but it is a ‘danger thing,’ and 
the numerous bonfires seen daily are a sad commentary 
on the lack of thought on the part of the parent, the guar¬ 
dian, or even the passerby, and show unperformed duty 
on the part of the police. 

“Don’t point a gun or pistol at any person, even in play. 

“Do remember that guns and pistols are sometimes 
loaded when we think they are not. 

“Many of those who suffer or die from gun or pistol 
wounds are victims of the “Didn’t know it was loaded” 
firearm. The only safe rule is “Don’t do it!” 

“Don’t walk on a railroad or trolley track or right of 
way. 

“It is a fact that thousands of men and women set a 
bad example daily and “take a chance” by crossing or 
walking on railroad rights of way without considering 
that the time and distance saved do not compensate for 
the risk taken. 

“Do start soon enough so as not to be in a hurry. 

“Americans were criticised justly when it was said of 
them: “You are a wonderful people, are continually de¬ 
vising some method of saving time, and are almost as 
continually devising some method to employ the time you 
have saved.” 

“The absence of mental poise and the nervous condition 
which accompanies hurry, preclude the possibility of thor¬ 
ough mental or physical work or recreation; and the per¬ 
son who starts the day five or ten minutes late would ac- 


6o 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


complish more if he would immediately conclude that 
those minutes were lost, and not endeavor to make them 
up by hurrying. 

“Do remember electricity runs through wires; it is very 
strong, burns severely or kills quickly. 

“Do keep others away from a fallen wire and send for 
the proper man to fix it. 

“Even men who are trained in the safe and proper han¬ 
dling of electric wires, because of familiarity, which re¬ 
sults in carelessness, often neglect some precaution and 
are burned or electrocuted. 

“The only safe plan to pursue when a wire is noticed 
lying on the ground or hanging from a pole or building 
is to presume that it is a “live wire” carrying electricity, 
a real “danger thing.” Remain in the vicinity, prevent 
others from touching the wire, refrain from touching it 
yourself, and send for a lineman or electrician to “clear 
up the trouble.” 

“Don’t look for a gas leak with a match, candle, lamp 
or any kind of flame light. 

“Don’t hang clothing or hats upon gas fixtures. 

“Do send for the gas man as soon as the odor of escap¬ 
ing gas is noticed. 

“Do have immediate repairs made to defective gas 
fixtures. 

“Don’t light gas water heater or gas oven jets without 
first leaving heater or oven door open several minutes. 

“Be sure that gas is turned of? completely and that safety 
stop prevents thumb key turning all the way around. 

“An object lesson is most effective and lasting; and an 
excess of dignity, or a feeling that it is “none of my busi¬ 
ness” should not prevent an adult from acting to further 
the “Safety First” teaching. 

“On the street it is the duty and should be the pleasure 
of all men and women to do those things which will tend 
to impress upon the mind of the child the “Safety First” 
lesson. Put out the bonfire; reason with the children 
who are playing in danger places. Don’t scold; don’t 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


61 


assume the superior attitude. Children are amenable to 
reason, and none but the unthinking person will accuse 
you of interference when you stop dangerous play, wheth¬ 
er it be a bonfire, running games in the streets, stealing 
rides, or other “danger things” that may come to your 
notice. 


“Don’t take a chance.” 

“The right hand is the right hand for bundles.” 
“Start early. Don’t hurry.” 

“Wait until the car stops.” 

“Fire is a good servant but a terrible master.” 
“The ‘unloaded’ gun frequently kills.” 

“Trolley and railroad tracks are the giants’ side¬ 
walks. You have your own.” 

“A wire is a danger thing; let it alone.” 

“Gas brackets are not clothes hooks.” 

“Wait for the fire to kindle, or rebuild it. Don’t 
hurry it with oil.” 

“Stolen Tides often cost too much.” 

“Play in safe places only.” 

“Let cars, automobiles, motorcycles, and wagons 
go past first.” 

“Work, play, travel; but always think: 

“SAFETY FIRST!” 


The Detroit Department of Education has published a 
complete “Course of Study in Safety Education,” which 
includes so much that the Brownie leader will be able to 
use that she will find it quite worth her while to get a 
copy. Send thirty-five cents to Miss Harriet E. Beard, 
Supervising Instructor of Safety Education, Detroit 
Teachers’ College, Detroit, Mich. 

Among the topics taken up are: First Aid, Fire Pre¬ 
vention, Safety in Food, Street Safety. All subjects are 
graded, with suggestion as to treatment, in games, discus¬ 
sions, compositions, drawing, and dramatization. 


62 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


Traffic Game. One of the games used in this course is 
described as follows: 

One part of the play space is marked off to represent 
the main thoroughfare familiar to the particular group of 
children. Chalk marks on the floor represent car tracks, 
curbs, and safety zones. Begin with a few players such 
as one policeman, several automobiles, and pedestrians. 
Gradually add to the number of different persons and ob¬ 
jects. Have some children act as buildings, and fences. 
Semaphores can be used to advantage and if possible 
should be made by the Brownies. 


Brownie Fire Alarm Game 

(From Westport, Conn.) 

Children have been found to enjoy acting out various 
emergencies in real life, which impresses the desired form 
on their minds far better than reading or discussion. 

The “Fire Alarm” game can be played in dozens of ways 
which will occur to the Leader; a skeleton plot is offered 
which greatly interested a local troop. 

Each child is given a part: a baiby, an older sister, a 
friend, a grandmother, and so forth. 

One child pretends to knock over a lighted candle (un¬ 
lighted, of course; no real fire should appear). One is 
given the part of a foolish child who cries, makes a fuss, 
and so on, but accomplishes nothing. Another imme¬ 
diately puts out candle, endeavors to smother fire, when 
just beginning, by rug, cushions, etc. Another closes win¬ 
dow and door, to check draft. One helps out old grand¬ 
mother; one carries out baby; one demonstrates crawling 
out on knees, to keep at a level of purer air; one runs to 
give fire alarm (a separate demonstration may be made of 
this) ; one telephones the alarm from the house. 

The amount of dramatic action and quick thinking which 
the children will employ will be a matter of interest to 
leaders who have not tried this. The children enjoy taking 



THE BROWNIE BOOK 


63 


a different part each time the game is played, and often 
add parts not given them. For instance, one child pre¬ 
tended that her dress was on fire and began to run, at 
which point another promptly caught her and rolled her 
on the ground, explaining as she did so, “Don’t you see 
you’re making a draft; let me put you out!” 

After the game, those who were not acting, criticize 
the presentation, mentioning what was done in the wrong 
order or overlooked. 


PART 3. ACTIVE GAMES 


Games* 

"Aims: to provide exercise; to provide recreation. 

Games provide a most necessary outlet for the child’s ener¬ 
gies and afford splendid opportunity for mental and physical 
development. The moral training provided in self-control, cour¬ 
age, spirit of fair play, etc., is too well known to need comment. 

Notes for Instruction 

1. Make your explanations as simple and concise as possible. 
Children are eager to begin play, and a long-winded explanation 
creates a rapid loss of interest that is difficult to regain. 

2. Form the habit of making quick, accurate, just decisions 
and teach the children to respect your word. 

3. Enforce all rules made, as nothing tends to lessen children's 
respect more quickly than laxity in this regard. 

4. Besides taking part in the game yourself, be able to act as 
referee at all times. 

5. Do not allow certain children to monopolize principal parts 
in games. Teach unselfish leadership. 

6. Show resourcefulness in adapting games to conditions. 

7. Do not coddle children who have been hurt. 

8. Work above all to create the spirit of fair play and whole¬ 
some enjoyment.” 


ANIMAL TAG 

50 to JO players. 

Playground; gymnasium. 

One or more players are chosen to be “It.” Those who 
are “It” and all of the other players must run on all fours. 
Those who are “It” try to tag the other animals, who, 
when tagged, become “It.” In other words, it is a game 
of simple tag played on all fours. Any player who walks 
on two legs becomes “It.” 


*“N. J. Course in Physical Training,” pp. 32, 33. 

64 





THE BROWNIE BOOK 


65 


BALL TAG (B 11) 

3 to 60 players. 

Playground ; gymnasium ; schoolroom. 

Gas ball; bean bag; basket ball; hand ball. 

There are several forms of ball tag, each quite distinc¬ 
tive, and all interesting and making good games. A soft 
ball or bean bag should be used in all of these games, or 
with older players a basket ball or other large, comparative¬ 
ly lightweight ball. 

The players scatter promiscuously. One player, who is 
It, tries to hit one of the other players with a ball or bean 
bag. Any player thus hit becomes It and must try to tag 
others in the same way. When a player fails to hit one for 
whom he aims, the thrower must pick up his own ball or 
bag, except in the schoolroom, where the seats and desks 
interfere with this. There any adjacent player may pick 
up the ball and throw it back to the one who is It. Players 
may dodge in any way, as by stooping, jumping, or the 
usual sideways movements. 

Where there are many playing, it is advisable to have 
two or three who take the part of thrower or It, in which 
case there will be two or three balls or bean bags in play 
at the same time, and the game is much more rapid. 

If played in the schoolroom, a light gas ball or bean bag 
should be used. Elsewhere, anything from a light-weight 
hand ball to a basket ball would be suitable. Hard balls 
should be avoided. 


BAT BALL 

10 to 40 players. 

Playground; gymnasium. 

Volley ball and standard or pole. 

Ground—For large teams the game should be played on 
a ground measuring fifty feet long and twenty-five wide. 
For smaller teams a smaller ground will answer. 

(B 11) From Bancroft's “Games for Playground, Home, School 
and Gymnasium,” p. 329. 



66 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


A pole, standard (or any object such as a chair) is placed 
at a point which marks two-thirds of the length of the field 
and is equally distant from the sides. 

Players—The players are evenly divided into two teams. 
One team lines up and numbers off in batting order. The 
other scatters over the field in such a way as to cover the 
field evenly. There is a captain for each side. An umpire 
is desirable. 

Object of the Game—The object of the game is for the 
batting party to bat “fair” balls into the field and to make 
"home runs” without being hit by the ball when it is se¬ 
cured by the team in the field. The object for the team in 
the field is to put out the runners by securing the ball and 
hitting them with it. The ball is put in play by being 
served by the party which is to score. 

Start; Rules for Service—The ball is put in play by being 
served by Batter No. 1, of the team at bat, who should 
stand at the right hand corner of the court at the end most 
distant from the pole. From this position the ball is tossed 
up lightly from one hand and batted with the palm of the 
other hand into the field. 

Each server has two trials in which to send the ball into 
the field. 

In serving, the ball must be batted at least ten feet by 
the server, to be a fair ball. 

Two foul balls put the player out. 

Rules of Play—The ball must always be batted with the 
open palm. The ball cannot be thrown. A ball striking 
the ground short of the ten-foot mark is a foul ball. 

When three players are put out by fouls or being struck 
by the ball, the teams change sides. 

The batter becomes a runner as soon as she hits a fair 
ball. She may run' around the pole in either direction 
and may dodge the ball whenever necessary. She need not 
run in a straight line. To make a home run she must run 
around the pole and pass behind the line of the home base, 
but need not touch it. 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


67 


The fielders, or members of the team in the field, may 
pass the ball from one to another. The fielders cannot run 
with the ball. The fielders cannot tag the runner, but 
must hit her with the ball, below the shoulders, to put her 
out. 

Score—One point is scored for her side by any member 
of the batting team who bats a fair ball and makes a run 
from the home base, around the pole and back behind the 
home base. 

The game is played in nine innings. The team having 
the highest score at the end of nine innings wins. 


END BALL (B 13) 

This game, originated under the direction of Mr. Wil¬ 
liam A. Stecher, of Philadelphia, is probably the best game 
ever devised for introducing players to some of the intrica¬ 
cies of team work and advanced ball play. 

The practice which it gives in throwing, catching, guard¬ 
ing, scoring, the observance of rules, and attention to fouls, 
makes it an admirable training for the more complicated 
games, and should be used as a preparation for them. 

The Girls’ Branch of the Public Schools Athletic League 
of New York City has officially adopted this game for this 
purpose in elementary schools, where its use precedes Cap¬ 
tain Ball or other team games of similar type. 

No competition for girls is allowed between public 
schools in New York City. All competition is confined to 
the clubs of a given school. 

Ball—The ball used in all match games shall be Spald¬ 
ing Official Basket Ball. 

The Ground—The ground is not invariable in dimen¬ 
sions. A space measuring 30 x 30 feet is sufficient for the 
game, and the usual size, though a larger space may be 
used for a very large number of players. This space shall 
be outlined, and then divided across the center by a straight 
line from side to side. At either end a narrow goal strip, 


68 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


3 feet wide, shall be made by drawing a second line parallel 
to the end line. 

For all match games clubs should agree on the dimen¬ 
sions of the field, and all preliminary practice should be on 
the same sized field. 

Players—The players shall be divided into two equal 
teams. One third of the players of each team shall be base- 
men, and take their places within the goal at one end of the 
ground; the balance of the team shall be guards and stand 
in the large territory in front of the goal on the opposite 
side of the ground. No regular arrangement for the play¬ 
ers is required, but they should scatter over the field so as 
not to leave unguarded spaces. 

Object of the Game—The object of the game is for the 
guards on one side to throw the ball over the heads of the 
guards on the opposite side to their own basemen, at the 
end of the opposite field. Each ball so caught by a bats¬ 
man shall score one point for the side catching it. The 
baseman should at once throw the ball back over the heads 
of the intervening guards to his own guards for another 
throw. 

The object of the intervening guards is to intercept the 
ball before it can reach the basemen at their rear, and to 
throw it in turn to their own basemen at the rear of the 
opposite court, over the heads of the intervening oppo¬ 
nents. 

Start—The game shall be started by a referee (usually 
the teacher) putting the ball in play in the center of the 
field. This is done by tossing it upward between two op¬ 
posing guards, each of whom shall try to catch it. The 
one whose hands touch it first shall be the possessor of the 
ball. The guards shall step forward in rotation to try 
for the ball whenever it is put in play, so that each guard 
shall have an opportunity. 

When a goal is made the ball shall remain in play. 

Score—The ball shall score one point for a team when¬ 
ever caught by a baseman from a throw from his own 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 69 

guards or whenever a baseman gets possession of the ball 
by its rolling into his territory. 

The ball continues in play when a point is scored. The 
game shall be played in two halves of 15 minutes each (for 
beginners the half may be 10 minutes, until endurance is 
acquired). There shall be a rest of from 3 to 5 minutes 
between halves. At the beginning of the second half the 
players shall change goals. 

The team shall win which has the highest score at the 
end of the second half. 

Fouls—It shall be a foul for any player to step outside 
of his assigned territory, either over the side lines or into 
his opponent’s court. A ball so caught shall not score, and 
the foul shall be punished by the ball being given to the 
nearest guard of the opposing team, who shall immediately 
put it in play by a throw to his own basemen or guards. 
This rule of overstepping territory shall apply to both 
guards and basemen and for one foot or both. 

It shall be a foul to carry the ball, i.e., to take more than 
one step with it. 

It shall be a foul to touch the ball while it is in the hands 
of another player. 

It shall be a foul to hold or push another player. 

A foul shall be punished by the loss of the ball, which 
shall be given to a guard of the opposing team for a free 
(unobstructed) throw. 

Additional Rules—Should a ball roll or be thrown be- 
yond the rear boundary line, the baseman nearest the ball 
shall leave his base to secure it, bring it within the line at 
the point where it passed out, and from there throw it to 
one of the guards of his team in the opposite court. A 
ball that goes over the side lines shall similarly be secured 
by the guard nearest where it left the field. 


(B 13) From Bancroft's “Games for Playground, Home, School 
and Gymnasium," Appendix. 



70 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


HOUND AND RABBIT (B 1) 

10 to 60 or more players. 

Playground; gymnasium ; schoolroom. 

A considerable number of the players stand in groups 
of three, with their hands on each other’s shoulders, each 
group making a small circle which represents a hollow tree. 
In each tree is stationed a player who takes the part of 
rabbit. There should be one more rabbit than the number 
of trees. One player is also chosen for hound. 

The hound chases the odd rabbit, who may take refuge 
in any tree, always running in and out under the arms of 
the players forming the tree. But no two rabbits may 
lodge in the same tree; so as soon as a hunted rabbit en¬ 
ters a tree the rabbit already there must run for another 
shelter. Whenever the hound catches a rabbit, they change 
places, the hound becoming rabbit and the rabbit hound. 
Or the hound may at any time become a rabbit by finding 
shelter in an empty tree, whereupon the odd rabbit who is 
left without shelter must take the part of the hound. 

This game may be made very lively, and has much sport 
in it even for adults. The trees should be scattered pro¬ 
miscuously, so that both rabbits and hound may have many 
opportunities to dodge and run in various directions, with 
false starts and feints that add zest and interest to such a 
game. 

For large numbers of players it is advisable to give each 
a better chance to participate actively in the game by hav¬ 
ing the rabbits and trees change parts whenever a rabbit is 
caught. The hound, and the rabbit who was caught, then 
choose their successors. 


(B 1) From Bancroft’s “Games for Playground, Home, School 
and Gymnasium,” p. 107. 



THE BROWNIE BOOK 


7 1 


JACOB AND RACHEL (B 2) 

10 to 30 or more players. 

Playground ; gymnasium ; parlor. 

All of the players but two form a circle with clasped 
hands. The two odd players are placed in the center, one 
of them, “Jacob,” being blindfolded. The object of the 
game is for Jacob to catch the other player, “Rachel ,” by 
the sound of her voice; but Rachel is supposed to be rather 
coy, and to do all in her power to avoid being caught by 
Jacob, even though she answers his questions. 

Jacob begins the game by.asking, “Rachel, where art 
thou ?” Rachel replies, “Here am I, Jacob,” and immediate¬ 
ly tiptoes to some other point in the ring, trying to evade 
Jacob’s outstretched hands as he gropes for her. Rachel 
may stoop to evade being caught, or may dash from one 
side of the ring to the other, or resort to any tactics except 
leaving the ring. Jacob may repeat his question whenever 
he wishes, and Rachel must answer each time. 

When Rachel is caught, Jacob returns to the ring, Rachel 
is blindfolded and chooses a new Jacob, this time taking 
the aggressive part and seeking him with the question, 
“Where art thou, Jacob?” etc. 

KICK BALL 

Rule 1. Arrangement of Game—Any number of players 
may take part in this game. The players are divided into 
two teams (a) the kickers, and (b) the fielders. 

Rule 2. Object of the Game—The object of the game is 
to kick the ball out into the field and reach one or more 
Bases before the fielders get possession of the ball. 

Rule 3. The Diamond—The diamond is laid out with a 


(B 2) From Bancroft's “Games for Playground, Home, School 
and Gymnasium,” p. 115. 



72 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


35-foot base line. The biases are two feet square. A 10- 
foot serving line is marked in rear of home base. 

Rule 4. The Ball—Regulation basket ball is used. For 
smaller children use a volley ball. 

Rule 5. The Line-Up—The kickers are lined up accord¬ 
ing to size in rear of serving line. The fielders are ar¬ 
ranged at irregular intervals within the diamond. 

Rule 6. The Foul Line—The foul line must be drawn 
from the home plate to the outer edge of first and third 
base and to the boundary of the field. A foul line is also 
drawn 10 feet in front of the home base. 

Rule 7. Kicking the Ball. The ball may be kicked (a) 
from the ground; (b) as a drop kick; (c) as a bounce kick. 

Rule 8. The Serving Line—The ball must be kicked 
from the rear of the serving line. Stepping on or over the 
line constitutes a foul. 

Rule 9. Choice of Inning—The choice of inning shall be 
decided by flipping a coin. 

Rule 10. The Game—Nine innings constitute a game. 
If the score be a tie at the end of the ninth inning, the 
play shall continue until a decision is reached. 

Rule 11. Scoring of Runs—One run shall be scored 
every time a base runner, after having legally touched the 
first, second and third bases shall touch the home base 
before three players are put out. The team scoring the 
greater number of runs wins the game. 

Rule 12. Base Runners—A kicker becomes a base 
runner as soon as he makes a fair kick. Any number of 
base runners may be at one base at the same time. 

The Base Runner Is Out: 1. If hit with the ball before 
reaching the first base. 2. If ball reaches home base be¬ 
fore base runner reaches second, third, or home base. 
3. If a fly ball is caught. 4. In kicking two fouls. 5. Inter¬ 
fering or being hit with the ball while running from one 
base to another. 6. In leaving bases before fly ball is 
caught. 7. In leaving the bases while ball is out of play. 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


73 


LEAF BY LEAF (B 10) 

Any number of players. 

Out of doors; indoors. 

A basket of leaves is provided, no two of the leaves 
being alike. These may be leaves from trees, shrubs, or 
plants, or flowers may be used in the same way. 

The players are each provided with a card or slip of 
paper and a pencil, and are seated. One leaf is handed to 
the first player, who passes it on to the next, and so on 
until it has made the round of the group. Each player, in 
turn, if he can identify the leaf, writes the name of it on a 
card. Each leaf is thus passed. 

The host or hostess then reads a correct list, naming the 
leaves in the order in which they were passed. The player 
wins who has the largest number correct. 

This is an especially pleasing game for nature students. 


MAZE TAG (B 3) 

(Line Tag; Right Face) 

15 to 100 players. 

Playground; gymnasium ; house party. 

All but two of the players stand in parallel lines or ranks, 
one behind the other, with ample space between each two 
players and each two ranks; all the players in each rank 
clasp hands in a long line. This will leave aisles between 
the ranks, and through these a runner and chaser make 
their way. 

The sport of the game consists in sudden changes in the 
direction of the aisles, brought about by one player who is 
chosen as leader and stands aside, giving the commands, 


(B 10) From Bancroft’s “Games for Playground, Home, School 
and Gymnasium,” p. 225. 

(B 3) From Bancroft’s “Games for Playground, Home, School 
and Gymnasium,” p. 131. 



74 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


“Right face!” or “Left face!” at his discretion. When one 
of these commands is heard, all of the players standing in 
the ranks drop hands, face in the direction indicated, and 
quickly clasp hands with the players who are then their 
neighbors on the right and left. This brings about a 
change of direction in the aisles, and therefore necessitates 
a change of direction in the course of the two who are 
running. 

The success of the game depends largely upon the judg¬ 
ment of the leader in giving the commands, “Right (or 
left) face!” They should be given quickly and repeatedly, 
the leader often choosing a moment when the pursuer 
seems just about to touch his victim, when the sudden 
obstruction put in his way by the change in the position 
of the ranks makes necessary a sudden change of direction 
on his part. The play continues until the chaser catches 
his victim, or until a time limit has expired. In either case 
two new players are then chosen from the ranks to take 
the places of the first runners. 

It is a foul to break through the ranks or to tag across 
the clasped hands. 


NEWCOMB 

10 to 100 players. 

Playground; gymnasium. 

Volley Ball or Basket Ball. 

Ground—Size of field, 25 ft. by 58 ft. Size of neutral 
ground, 8 ft. by 25 ft., divides field evenly. Size of courts, 
25 ft. by 25 ft. 

General Tactics—The object of the game is to secure a 
touchdown; therefore, when on the receiving side, guard 
the ground on which you stand; catch the ball, as that will 
prevent the opposing team’s securing a touchdown. Re¬ 
member that “out” balls are fouls. When on the receiving 
side do not try to stop an out ball but let it go. Look for 
the enemy's weakest defense and throw }'our ball in that 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


75 


direction. While the players do not have to stand in any 
given position, it is well to prevent general running over 
the field, as that confuses the players and obstructs the 
play. A limited radius should be understood for each 
player, and to secure the best team work, the player who 
receives the ball should throw it. Make a careful distribu¬ 
tion of players; do not put the best players on the same 
side of the court. Never look in the direction you intend 
throwing the ball. Remember it is skillful, rather than 
violent playing that secures the game. Vary your plays; 
do not always aim in the same direction. Avoid unneces¬ 
sarily high balls. 

Players—There must be an equal number of players on 
each team. There should not be less than five players on 
a team; any number may play. 

Start—The game shall consist of two halves of 15 min¬ 
utes each, with an intermission of 10 minutes. The team 
having the ball at the end of the first half shall start the 
play at the beginning of the second half. Should the ball 
be in play when time is called, the team not having the 
ball at the opening of the game shall start the play in the 
second half. 

The game is opened by the Referee (or instructor) who 
stands on the division line and tosses the ball up between 
the captains. The captains shall stand at least three feet 
apart, measuring from the advanced foot. The Referee 
shall see that none but the captains try for the “toss-up.” 
When a captain has secured the ball, either by catching 
or batting it into his own court, the game is not formally 
opened until the captains have returned to their respective 
positions, in the forward center of the court, and the 
Referee gives the signal (whistle) to play ball. The cap¬ 
tain who secures the ball opens the game. 

A “touchdown” is when a ball sent by one team clears 
the neutral space and strikes any clear space in the op¬ 
ponent’s court. 

A “touchdown” counts two points for the side sending 
the ball. 


76 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


Fouls —1. When, in throwing, the ball strikes the Neu¬ 
tral Ground, it shall constitute a foul, unless it is batted 
by a player on the receiving side, when it shall count a 
point for the side throwing. 

2. When throwing a ball, the player must stand with 
both feet inside the boundary lines. If either foot or any 
part of a foot is outside the boundary lines when the ball 
is thrown, it shall constitute a foul. 

3. If a ball strikes the wall or any perpendicular surface, 
and rebounds into the Neutral Ground or into the op¬ 
ponent’s court, it shall constitute a foul for the court of 
the team throwing the ball and the ball is again thrown. 

4. An “out” ball is one that is thrown outside the 
boundary lines or into the Neutral Ground, without having 
been touched or batted by a player on the receiving side. 
It should be returned to the nearest point where it went 
out, on the receiving side. The captain on the receiving 
side shall throw all such balls and any member of the team 
may pass the ball to him. “Out” balls cqnstitute a foul 
against the side throwing. 

5. A ball thrown with hands, when throwing for a 
touchdown, shall constitute a foul. The ball must be 
thrown with one hand in order to score a “touchdown.” 
The only exception to this rule is when quick passing of 
the ball from player to player on the same team is being 
done. 

6. No player shall catch or throw the ball while on his 
knees. He must be on his feet. No player is allowed to 
fall on the ball. 

7. Any infringement of the rules is a foul. 

Score—The team throwing the ball is the only one 
which can score points. 

1. When a “touchdown” is scored. (One point.) 

2. When a player receiving the ball bats it into the 
Neutral Ground or outside the boundary lines. (One 
point.) 

3. When a player on the receiving team drops a ball 
which was thrown by the other team. (One point.) 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 77 

4. When the thrown ball falls in Neutral Ground and 
is touched by a player of the other team. (One point.) 

5. When a ball is an “out” and is touched by a player 
on the receiving team. (One point.) 

6. When a thrown ball strikes the base (boundary) 
lines. (One point.) 


OBSERVATION (B 4) 

5 to 60 players. 

Parlor; schoolroom. 

This game is a test of visual memory. When played in a 
parlor, all the players are seated except one, who passes 
around a tray or a plate, on which are from six to twenty 
objects, all different. These may include such things as a 
key, spool of thread, pencil, cracker, piece of cake, ink 
bottle, napkin ring, small vase, etc. The more uniform the 
size and color of the objects the more difficult will be the 
test. The player who carries the tray will pass at the pace 
of an ordinary walk around the circle giving each player 
an opportunity to look at the objects only so long as they 
are passing before him. It is not allowable to look longer 
than this. The observer must then at once write down on a 
slip of paper the names of as many of the objects as he 
can remember. The player wins who writes correctly the 
longest list. 

It is sometimes more convenient to have the articles on 
a table and the players all pass in a line before them. 

In the Schoolroom —The objects should be placed on the 
teacher's desk, so shielded that pupils cannot see them ex¬ 
cept as they march past the desk. This they should do, 
returning at once to their seats and writing the list. Used 
in this way, the game may be made to correlate with nature 
study, the objects to be observed being grasses, shells, 
leaves, stones, woods, etc. 


(B4) From Bancroft’s “Games for Playground, Home, School 
and Gymnasium,’’ p. 139. 



78 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


ORIENTAL TAG 

10 to 60 players. 

Playground; gymnasium. 

One player is chosen to be it. He starts in the center of 
the circle made by the other players. All the players in 
the circle kneel and place their heads in their hands in the 
position of the Oriental salute. The player or players who 
are “It” (there may be more than one) may tag any player 
in the circle if she raises her head. That player then be¬ 
comes “It,” and the old “It” takes her place in the circle. 
The player who is “It” may cross the circle, go behind it, 
walk on tiptoes, or do anything to puzzle those in the 
circle. The members of the circle should be daring enough 
to raise their heads frequently. 


POISON SNAKE (B 5) 

10 to 30 or more players. 

Gymnasium; playground. 

The players join hands to form a circle. About fifteen 
Indian clubs or tenpins are placed in the center of the cir¬ 
cle, with spaces between them in which a player might 
step. The players then try, by pushing or pulling their 
comrades by means of the clasped hands, to make them 
knock over the clubs. Any player who overturns a club 
oi who unclasps hands must at once leave the circle, the 
club being replaced. The first players so leaving start a 
“scrub” circle; players disqualified in the scrub circle start 
another in their turn, etc. The player wins who is left in 
the original circle. Where several circles have been formed, 
the several winners may form a circle at the close and 
play to determine the final winner. 

This game has possibilities for much sport and skill. 


(B5) From Bancroft’s “Games for Playground, Home, School 
and Gymnasium,” p. 149. 



THE BROWNIE BOOK 


79 


The agility with which players leap over or pass between 
the clubs is as important a part of the game as the pulling 
and pushing. The clubs should be sufficiently scattered to 
make it possible for a player to save himself in this way. 
Children may need to have this feature of the game pointed 
out to them. The game is equally interesting to children 
or adults, but obviously requires gymnasium suits for girls 
or women. 


PRISONER’S BASE—I AND II (B 6) 

10 to 30 or more players. 

Playground; gymnasium. 

The ground is divided into two equal parts, with a small 
base or prison marked off at the farther end of each divi¬ 
sion. From five to fifteen players guard each side. They 
venture into the enemy’s ground, and, if caught, are put 
into the prison, where they must remain until tagged by 
one of their own side who is free. Both prisoner and res¬ 
cuer may be tagged and brought back to prison before 
reaching their own ground. The game is won when one 
side makes prisoners of all of its opponents, or when a free 
man enters the opponent’s prison, but this last may be 
done only when there are no prisoners there. 

This form of Prisoner’s Base differs from others in great¬ 
er simplicity, both as to the arrangement of the ground 
and the rules of play. It is therefore better for younger 
players or beginners in the game. 

The differences in detail consist in:— 

1. The ground being divided by a line through the center 
into two opposing territories. In other forms, the main 
playground is neutral territory, each party having a small 
home goal marked within it. 


(B6) From Bancroft’s “Games for Playground, Home, School and 
Gymnasium,” p. 157. 



8o 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


2. In this game (No. 1) a player cannot “give a dare” 
without venturing into the opponents’ territory, and any 
opponent may tag him. In other forms, the tagging, being 
on neutral territory, is controlled by limitations as to 
which player was last to leave his home goal, and makes a 
more complex game. 

The rules about (1) a prisoner and his rescuer both being 
liable to capture on the way home, and (2) to winning by 
entering the enemy’s prison, with the restriction that no 
prisoners must be there, are also distinctive features. 

Two captains are chosen who select players alternately 
until all are disposed in two parties of equal numbers. A 
large goal is marked off at each end of the ground, with a 
small base or prison in one rear corner of it. The wide, 
open space between the goals is neutral territory. The 
objects of the game are to enter the opponent’s goal or to 
make prisoners of all of his men. The entrance of one 
player within the enemy’s home goal means victory for his 
side. As one player advances for this purpose, or “gives a 
dare,” the opponents send out a player to tag him, when 
the first side immediately sends out a second player to 
“cover” or protect the darer by trying to tag his opponent. 
The first side then sends out a second player to “cover” 
their first man. He is at liberty to tag either of the other 
two players. In this way any or all of the players may be 
out at one time, though it is unwise to leave the goal un¬ 
guarded. Any player may tag any man from the opposite 
side who left his goal before he did, but none who came out 
after he did. Whenever a player returns to his home goal, 
which he may do at any time, the man who went out to 
cover him must return also, and of course the man who 
went out to cover this second one, etc. The issuing forth 
of players, or their return to the home goal, is subject at all 
times to the direction of the captain, though much inde¬ 
pendence of judgment should be exercised by the various 
players. The captain may also designate one player to 
guard the home goal and one to guard the prisoners when¬ 
ever he chooses. 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


8l 


SPUD (B 12) 

10 to 100 players. 

Playground; gymnasium. 

Any soft ball or bean bag. 

This is a combination of Cat Ball and Ball Tag, with 
scoring and penalties added. It is very popular at almost 
any age. 

The players stand in a group, with one in the center 
holding the ball. The center player drops the ball, at the 
same time calling the name of one of the other players. 
All but the one called immediately scatter, as they are 
liable to be tagged with the ball. The player called secures 
the ball as quickly as possible, and tries to hit one of the 
players with it. He may not run to do this, but must stand 
where he secured the ball. If he misses, he secures the 
ball, stands where he gets it, and tries again, the other 
players fleeing from him as before. If he hits a player, that 
one immediately secures the ball, tries to hit some one else 
with it, the second one hit tries to hit a third, and so on. 

Whenever a player misses hitting another with the ball, 
it is called a “spud,” and counts one against him. When 
any player has three spuds against him, he must stand 
twenty feet from the other players, with his back to them, 
and they each have one shot at him with the ball. The 
victim then starts the play again from the center of the 
ground. 


SQUAD DODGE BALL 

10 to 60 players. 

Playground; gymnasium. 

Basketballs, one to three. 

Ground —For informal play, marking may be indicated 
by the players forming a circle, dropping hands and step- 


(B 12) From Bancroft’s “Games for Playground, Home, School 
and Gymnasium,’’ p. 404. 



82 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


ping back three feet or more. For match games, the circle 
may be 35 feet in diameter and marked in advance. 

Teams —Any number may take part. They are divided 
into two equal teams, one of which stands around the out¬ 
side of the circle; the other team forms a single line or 
“train” by clasping each other around the waist. The line 
remains within the circle. For match games a referee is 
necessary, who also acts as score keeper. 

Object of Game —The object of the game is for the outer 
circle team to hit the end player of the inner team with a 
basket ball. When this player (the one on the rear end of 
the line) is so hit, she is out and has to leave the game. 
Only the inner players score on the basis of the number of 
players left in the circle when the time limit is called. 
There is no retaliatory play from the inner team. The hit 
must be made below the shoulder. 

Start —The game starts on a signal from the referee with 
the ball in the hands of the outer circle. The referee also 
signals for time limits. More than one ball may be used. 

Rules of Play —The players in the outer team must not 
step within the circle when throwing. A center player hit 
by such a throw is not out. If a ball remains in the circle 
or rolls out of it, one of the outer team may run in or out 
to get it. She may throw it to one of her team, or she may 
return to her own place and throw it from there. 

The inner team only dodges the ball. The line must 
not become a circle or coil up within itself, but it may twist 
in any direction like a whip. The game does not stop when 
the end player is hit, she leaves the game instantly, and the 
ball continues in play. Any other player than the end 
player does not leave the game when hit. 

Score—The game is played in two halves of ten minutes 
each, the teams changing places at the end of the first half. 
The scoring is done by the inner team which scores one 
point for each player left within the circle at the end of its 
half. 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


83 


STILL POND, NO MORE MOVING! (B 7) 

(Still water, still water, stop!) 

5 to 30 or more players. 

Parlor; gymnasium; playground. 

One player is blindfolded; the others scatter promiscu¬ 
ously. The blindfolded player is led to the center of the 
playground, and asked :— 

“How many horses has your father in his stable?” 

He replies, “Three.” 

“What color are they?” 

“Black, white, and gray.” 

“Turn around three times and catch whom you may.” 
The blindfolded player is then spun around so as to con¬ 
fuse his sense of direction. He then says, “Still pond; no 
more moving!” whereupon the other players must stand 
still, being allowed only three steps thereafter. The blind¬ 
folded player begins to grope for the others. When he 
catches one, he must guess by touching the hair, dress, 
etc., whom he has caught. If he guesses correctly, the 
player changes places with him; if incorrectly, he must 
go on with his search. The players may resort to any 
reasonable devices for escaping the hands of the groping 
blind man, such as stooping or dodging, so long as they do 
not take more than three steps. When caught, a player 
may try to disguise his identity by making himself shorter, 
etc. 

THIRD MAN (B 8) 

(See also Three Deep and Last Man) 

15 to 100 players. 

Playground; gymnasium. 

This game is another form of the game commonly known 
as Three Deep, but instead of being played in the circular 


(B7) From Bancroft’s '^Games for Playground, Home, School and 
Gymnasium,” p. 189. 

(B8) From Bancroft’s “Games for Playground, Home, School and 
Gymnasium,” p. 194. 



8 4 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


formation, the players are scattered irregularly over the 
playground. 

All of the players but two take partners and scatter in 
any irregular way. The players forming each couple stand 
facing each other, with the distance of a long step between 
them. To make a success of the game, the resistance 
should be considerable between the various couples. 

Of the two odd players, one is runner and the other 
chaser, the object of the latter being to tag the runner. The 
runner may take refuge between any two players who are 
standing as a couple. The moment that he does so, the 
one toward whom his back is turned becomes third man, 
and must in his turn try to escape being tagged by the 
chaser. Should the chaser tag the runner, they exchange 
places, the runner immediately becoming chaser and the 
chaser being liable instantly to tagging. 


WHIP TAG (B 9) 

(Light the Candle; Beetle-goes-Round) 

10 to 30 or more players. 

Playground; gymnasium. 

This game may be played with a knotted towel, though 
it is perhaps more skillful and interesting when played 
with a “beetle,” a small cylindrical sack about twenty 
inches long, stuffed with cotton and resembling in general 
proportions a policeman’s club. 

All but one of the players stand in a circle with hands 
behind their backs. The odd player runs around the out¬ 
side carrying the beetle, which he drops in the hands of 
any player in the circle. That player immediately turns 
to chase his right-hand neighbor, beating him as much as 
he can find opportunity for while he chases him around the 


(B 9) From Bancroft’s “Games for Playground, Home, School and 
Gymnasium,” p. 205. 



THE BROWNIE BOOK 


85 

circle and back to his place. It is obviously to the interest 
of this neighbor to outrun the beetle and escape a buffeting. 

The one holding the beetle then takes the place of the 
first outside player, that one joining the ring. The new 
beetle man, in turn, runs around on the outside and drops 
the beetle in any hands which he chooses. 

The sport of this game depends on the alertness of the 
players, as not only the one who receives the beetle but 
his right-hand neighbor must know when and where the 
beetle lands, and turn quickly for the chase. The player 
running around the outside will add to the zest of the 
game by trying to deceive the ring players as to where 
he is going to place the beetle, quickening or slowing his 
pace, or resorting to other devices to keep them on the 
alert. 


PART 4. CLASSIFIED LIST OF GAMES FOR 
BROWNIES 

Star (*) indicates game is printed in this Manual. 
Unless otherwise stated, the page numbers refer to 
Bancroft. 

Tag Games Page 

Home Tag . 106 

*Animal Tag. (See description). 

Hang Tag . 101 

French Tag . 96 

Partner Tag . 145 

Cross Tag . 75 

Japanese Tag . 116 

♦Oriental Tag. (See description). 

*Maze Tag .. 131 

♦Beetle Goes Round . 205 

Stoop Tag . 190 

Schoolroom Tag . 172 

Relay Races 

(See Index) . 455 

Active Games 

Slap Jack . 178 

Flowers and Wind . 87 

Follow the Leader . 89 

♦Poison Snake . 149 

Catch of Fish . 61 

Pom Pom Pull-away . 149 

*Third Man ... 194 

For Out of Doors 

♦Prisoner’s Base. I. and II.157-158 

Every Man in His Own Den. 83 

Fox and Geese. 92 

♦Hound and Rabbit . 107 

Stealing Sticks . 188 

Stunts. Read Section Contests for Two. 245 

86 


























THE BROWNIE BOOK 


87 


Ball Games (in order of difficulty)— 

Teacher Ball . 316 

Ring Call Ball . 399 

Circle Dodgeball . 364 

*Ball Tag. 329 

♦Spud . 404 

Bombardment . 334 

Squad Dodgeball. (See description.) 

Newcomb. (See description.) 

Progressive Dodgeball . 366 

Bat Ball. (See description.) 

♦Kick Ball. (See description.) 

♦End Ball. (Appendix.) . 3 

Sense Training. Program I. 

Horns . 223 

♦Leaf by Leaf . 225 

Blind Bell . 515 

Blind Man’s Buff . 55 

Pebble Chase . 145 

Teacher and Class. 316 

Sense Training. Program II. 

Penny Wise . 230 

Simon Says . 231 

♦Jacob and Rachel . 115 

The Lost Child . 130 

Huckle, Buckle, Beanstalk . 109 

♦Hearing (Girl Pioneers of America, p. 79). 

Sense Training. Program III. 

♦Observation (Kim’s Game) . 139 

Guess Who? . 100 

Line Zig-Zag .421-423 

♦Still Pond ... 189 

Whispered Roll Call (Girl Pioneers of Amer¬ 
ica, p. 79). 

Your Five Senses (Girl Pioneers of Amer¬ 
ica, p. 77). 

























88 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


The Active Child 

The child with the well-nourished, active body is the child 
who is most anxious to do and to know things. The need of 
activity must be met in the exercise of the school, hour by hour; 
the child must be allowed to move about both in work and in 
play, to imitate and to discover for himself. The world of objects 
around him is an unexplored hemisphere to the child even at the 
age of six years, a world constantly enlarging to his small vision 
as his activities carry him further and further in his investiga¬ 
tions, a world by no means so commonplace to him as to the 
adult. Therefore, let the child, while his muscles are soft and 
his mind susceptible, look for himself at the world of things 
both natural and artificial, which is for him the source of knowl¬ 
edge. 

Instead of providing this chance for growth and discovery, the 
ordinary school impresses the little one into a narrow area, into 
a melancholy silence, into a forced attitude of mind and body, 
till his curiosity’s dulled into surprise at the strange things hap¬ 
pening to him. Very soon his body is tired of his task and he 
begins to find ways of evading his teacher, to look about him 
for an escape from his little prison. This means that he becomes 
restless and impatient, in the language of the school, that he loses 
interest in the small tasks set for him and consequently in that 
new world so alluring a little while ago. The disease of indif¬ 
ference has attacked his sensitive soul, before he is fairly started 
on the road to knowledge. . . . 

Because the young child is unfitted by reason of his soft 
muscles and his immature senses to the hard task of settling 
down to fine work on the details of things, he should not begin 
school life by learning to read and write, nor by learning to 
handle small playthings or tools. He must continue the natural 
course he began at home of running from one interesting object 
to another, of inquiring into the meaning of these objects, and 
above all of tracing the relation between the different objects. 
All this must be done in a large way so that he gets the names 
and bearings of the obvious facts as they appear in their order. 
Thus the obscure and difficult facts come to light one after an¬ 
other without being forced upon the child’s attention by the 
teacher. One discovery leads to another, and the interest of 
pursuit leads the child of his own accord into investigations that 
often amount to severe intellectual discipline.—Quoted from “Schools 
of Tomorrow,” Dewey, pp. 19, 20, 21. 

Probably the first extra-personal excursions should be into alien 
scenes or experiences which lead back or contribute directly to their 
old familiar world. Stories of unknown raw materials which turn 
into well-known products are of this type,—cattle raising in Texas, 
dairy farms in New England, lumbering in Minnesota, sheep raising 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


89 

in California. It is a happy coincidence that raw materials are often 
produced under semi-primitive conditions, so that a vicarious par¬ 
ticipation in their production gives to children something of that 
thrilling contact with the elemental that does the life of primitive 
men, and this without sending them into the remote and, for modern 
children, “unnatural” world of unmodified nature. The danger here 
is that the story will be sacrificed to the information. Indeed it can 
hardly be otherwise, if the aim is to give an adequate picture of 
some process of production. This, of course, is a legitimate aim,— 
but for the encyclopedia, not for the story. What I have in mind is 
a dramatic situation which has this process as a background, so that 
the child becomes interested in the process because of the part it 
plays in the drama just as he would if the process were a background 
in his own life. I am thinking of the opportunities which these com¬ 
paratively primitive situations give for adventure rather than for the 
detailed elucidation of a process of production. 

It is the peculiar function of a story to raise inquiries, not to give 
instruction. A story must stimulate not merely inform. This is the 
trouble with our “informational literature” for children, of which 
very little is worthy of the name. Indeed, I am not sure it is not a 
contradiction of terms. It is frankly didactic. It aims to make clear 
certain facts, not to stimulate thought. It assumes that if a child 
swallows a fact it must nourish him. To give the child material with 
which to experiment,—this lies outside its present range. Reaction 
from the unloveliness of this didactic writing has produced a dis¬ 
tressing result. The misunderstood and misapplied educational prin¬ 
ciple that children's work should interest them has developed a new 
species of story,—a sort of pseudo-literary thing in which the med¬ 
icinal facts are concealed by various sugar-coated devices. Chil¬ 
dren will take this sort of story,—what will their eager little 
minds not take? And like encyclopedias and other books of ref¬ 
erence this type has its place in a child’s world. But it should 
never be confused with literature.—From “Here and Now Story 
Book,” by Lucy Sprague Mitchell. 


SECTION III 

STORIES FOR BROWNIES 

Story-telling is almost as essential a part of the Brownie 
Program, as games. It is in fact, one of the most alluring 
of plays for the mind. The following are given as samples 
of the short story suitable for fifteen-minute periods. 
These may be read and then retold by the children. 

We are indebted to Mrs. Miriam Clark Potter and Mr. 
John Macrea, Vice-President of E. P. Dutton and Com¬ 
pany, for the use of the stories from the “Pinafore Pocket 
Story Book.” These appeared serially in “The New York 
Evening Post,” and are to be published in book form in 
the near future. 

Mrs. Lucy Sprague Mitchell, Director of the New York 
Bureau of Educational Experiment, has, with the consent 
of her publishers, E. P. Dutton and Company, allowed us 
to reprint three of the stories in “The Here and Now 
Story Book.” 

“Education by Story Telling.” (New York World Book 
Co., 1920.) In this book Katherine Dunlap Cather gives 
the results of many years’ experience with story telling 
in the Demonstration Play School of the University of 
California. Among the contents are: The Rhythmic, 
Imaginative, Heroic and Romantic periods in the story in¬ 
terests of children. How to tell the story; relation of 
stories to development of appreciation of Literature, 
Music, Art, the Drama, the Bible, and Ethics; the use of 
stories in history, geography, nature study and domestic 
science. 

With each topic, an illustrative story is given, with a 
total of about fifty stories. Finally there is a list of stories 
by months, for each school grade. 

The Brownie or other Scout Leader who wishes to de¬ 
velop this aspect of the work, and who wants a single 
source book will do well to get this one. 

90 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


91 


Myths—Myths are specially good forms of stories for 
Brownie Leaders to use. They are always of vital human 
interest or they would not have survived the test of cen¬ 
turies. Their characters and themes are used in litera¬ 
ture to such an extent that ignorance of them makes much 
reading almost lacking in significance. Even where no 
direct reference is made, the meaning of certain words or 
phrases in common use is quite inexplicable without the 
background which myths give, e. g., ‘‘Colossus,” “Cut¬ 
ting the Gordian knot,” “Herculean labors,” an “argosy,” 
“Olympic Heights,” “Bacchanalian,” “titanic,” “Amazon,” 
“Atlas,” “Muses,” “Argus-eyed,” “hydra-headed,^ “The 
Golden Touch,” “The Winged Horse,” “cereal,” “lethean,” 
“chimerical.” 

While formerly, myths and legends were a required 
part of reading in high school, it is now recognized that 
the best time for children to learn them is in the years 
from seven to ten, where the stories appeal as simple 
stories, and their terms and ideas are unconsciously assim¬ 
ilated. 

Hawthorne, in his “Wonder Book,” and “Tanglewood 
Tales,” has put some of the most famous of the Greek and 
Roman myths into delightful story form, with language, 
style and general setting which make the books original 
literature of a high order. Instead of trying to reproduce 
the stories in her own words, the Brownie Leader should 
read Hawthorne’s original story aloud unless she is a 
trained “Story Teller.” This caution applies to other 
stories beside myths. Hawthorne’s books are printed in 
several inexpensive forms; for example, Macmillan pub¬ 
lishes them in the “Pocket American and English Clas¬ 
sics,” for about fifty cents a volume. 

Other stories suitable for Brownies will be found listed 
in the Handbook, “Scouting For Girls,” beginning p. 540. 
Such books as “Water Babies,” “Alice In Wonderland,” 
“The Jungle Books,” and “Just So Stories,” could be cov¬ 
ered by short selections at each meeting. 


PART 1. FOR LITTLEST BROWNIES 
1. How the Singing Water Got to the Tub* 

Once there was a little singing stream of water. It sang 
whatever it did. And it did many things from the time it 
bubbled up in the far-away hills to the time it splashed into 
the dirty little boy’s tub. It began as a little spring of 
water. Then the water was as cool as cool could be for it 
came up from the deep cool earth all hidden away from the 
sun. It came up into a little hollow scooped out of the 
earth and in the hollow were little pebbles. Right up 
through the pebbles, bubbling and gurgling it came. And 
what do you suppose the water did when the little hollow 
was all full? It did just what water always does, it tried 
to find a way to run down hill! One side of the little 
hollow was lower than the others and here the water spilled 
over and trickled down. And this is the song the water 
sang then: 

“I bubble up so cool 
Into the pebbly pool. 

Over the edge I spill 
And gallop down the hill! 

So the water became a little stream and began its long 
journey to the little boy’s tub. And always it wanted to 
run down—always down, and as it ran, it tinkled this song: 

“I sing, I run, 

In the shade, in the sun, 

It's always fun 
To sing and to run.” 

Sometimes it pushed under twigs and leaves; sometimes 
it made a big noise tumbling over the roots of trees; some¬ 
times it flowed all quiet and slow through long grasses in 


♦From p. 219, “Here and Now Story Book,” by Lucy Sprague 
Mitchell, reprinted by courtesy of E. P. Dutton & Co., Publishers 
and Copyrighters, 1921. 


92 



THE BROWNIE BOOK 


93 


a meadow. Once it came to the edge of a pretty big rock 
and over it went, splashing and crashing and dashing and 
making a fine, fine spray. 

It sang to the little birds that took their baths in the 
spray. And the little birds ruffled their feathers to get dry 
and sang back to the little brook. “Ching-a-ree!” they 
sang. It sang to the bunny rabbit who got his whiskers 
all wet when he took a drink. It sang to the mother deer 
who always came to the same place and licked up some 
water with her tongue. To all of these and many more 
little wild wood things the little brook rippled its song: 

“I sing, I run, 

In the shade, in the sun, 

It’s always fun 
To sing and to run.” 

But to the fish in the big dark pool under the rocks it 
sang so softly, so quietly, that only the fishes heard. 

Now all the time that the little brook kept running 
down hill, it kept getting bigger. For every once in a 
while it would be joined by another little brook coming 
from another hillside spring. And, of course, the two of 
them were twice as large as each had been alone. This 
kept happening until the stream was a small river,—so 
big and deep that the horses couldn’t ford it any more. 
Then people built bridges over it, and this made the small 
river feel proud. Little boats sailed in it too,—canoes and 
sail boats and row boats. Sometimes they held a lot of 
little boys without any clothes on who jumped into the 
water and splashed and laughed and splashed and laughed. 

At last the river was strong enough to carry great glid¬ 
ing boats, with deep deep voices. “Toot,” said the boats, 
“tootoot-tooooooooot!” 

And now the song of the river was low and slow as it 
answered the song of the boats: 

"I grow and I flow 
As I carry the boats, 

As I carry the boats of men.” 


94 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


After the little river had been running down hill for ever 
so long, it came to a place where the banks went up very- 
high and steep on each side of it. Here something strange 
happened. The little river was stopped by an enormous 
wall. The wall was made of stone and cement and it 
stretched right across the river from one bank to the other. 
The little river couldn’t get through the wall, so it just 
filled up behind it. It filled and filled until it found that 
it had spread out into a real little lake. Only the people 
who walked around it called it a reservoir! 

Now in the wall was just one opening down near the 
bottom. And what do you suppose that led to? A pipe! 
But the pipe was so big that an elephant could have walked 
down it swinging his trunk! Only, of course, there wasn't 
any elephant there. 

Now the little river didn’t like to have his race down hill 
stopped. So he began muttering to himself: 

“What shall I do, oh, what shall I do? 

.Here’s a big dam and I can’t get through! 

Behind the dam I fill and fill 

But I want to go running and running down hill! 

If the pipe at the bottom will let me through 

I’ll run through the pipe! That’s what I'll do!” 

So he rushed into the pipe as fast as he could for there 
he found he could run down hill again! He ran and he 
ran for miles and miles. Above him he knew there were 
green fields and trees and cows and horses. These were 
the things he had sung to before he rushed into the pipe. 
Then after a long time he knew he was under something 
different. He could feel thousands of feet scurrying this 
way and that; he could feel thousands of horses pulling 
carriages and wagons and trucks; he could feel cars, sub¬ 
ways, engines—he could feel so many things crossing him 
that he wondered they didn’t all bump each other. Then 
he knew he was under the Big City. And this is the song 
he shouted then: 

“Way under the street, street, street, 

I feel the feet, feet, feet. 

I feel their beat, beat, beat. 

Above on the street, street, street.” 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


95 


And then again something queer happened. Every once 
in a while a pipe would go off from the big pipe. Now one 
of these pipes turned into a certain street and then a still 
smaller pipe turned off into a certain house and a still 
smaller pipe went right up between the walls of the house. 
And in this house there lived a dirty little boy. 

The water flowed into the street pipe and then it flowed 
into the house pipe and then,—what do you think?—it 
went right up that pipe between the walls of the house 1 
For you see even the top of that dirty little boy’s house 
isn’t nearly as high as the reservoir on the hill where the 
water started and the water can run up just as high as it 
has run down. 

In the bathroom was the dirty little boy. His face was 
dirty, his hands were dirty, his feet were dirty and his 
knees—oh! his knees were very, very dirty. This very 
dirty little boy went over to the faucet and slowly turned 
it. Out came the water splashing, and crashing and dash¬ 
ing. 

“My! but I need a bath tonight,” said the dirty little boy 
as he heard the water splashing in the tub. The water was 
still the singing water that had sung all the way from the 
far-away hills. It had sung a bubbling song when it 
gurgled up as a spring; it had sung a tinkling song as it 
rippled down hill as a brook; it had crooned a flowing song 
when it bore the talking boats; it had muttered and 
throbbed and sung to itself as it ran through the big, big 
pipe. Now as it splashed into the dirty little boy’s tub it 
laughed and sang this last song: 

“I run from the hill,—down, down, down, 

Under the streets of the town, town, town, 

Then in the pipe, up, up, up, 

I tumble right into your tub, tub, tub.” 

And the dirty little boy laughed and jumped into the 
Singing Water! 


96 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


2. The Children’s New Dresses* 

Once there was a small town. In the small town were 
many houses and in the houses were many peopte. In one 
of these houses there lived a mother, with a great many 
children. One night after the children were all in bed and 
the mother was sitting by the fire, a brick fell down the 
chimney. Then another came bumping and rattling down. 
Now outside there was a great wind blowing. It whistled 
down the chimney and up flamed the fire. The sparks flew 
into the hole where the bricks had fallen out. The first 
thing the mother knew the house was on fire Still the 
great wind roared. The house next door caught fire, then 
the next, then the next, then the next, until half the tTtle 
town was burning. The mother with the many children 
and many other frightened people ran to the part of the 
town behind the great wind. And there they stayed until 
the wind died down and they could put the fire out. 

Now many of these people’s clothes had burned with 
their houses. The many children who had gone to bed 
before the fire began had nothing to wear except their 
nightclothes. The mother went to the store. That too was 
burned! But she found the storekeeper and said :—“Store¬ 
keeper, sell me some dresses for my children for their 
dresses have been burned and they have nothing to wear.” 

“But, mother of the many children,” the storekeeper re¬ 
plied, “first I must get me the dresses. For that I must 
send to the many-fingered factory in the middle of the 
city.” 

So he sent to the many-fingered factory in the middle of 
the great city and he said:—“Clothier, send me some 
dresses that I may sell to the mother; for her children’s 
dresses have burned up and they have nothing to wear.” 

But the clothier in the many-fingered factory replied:— 
“First I must get me the cloth. For that I must send to 


♦From p. 229. “Here and Now Story Book,” by Lucy Sprague 
Mitchell, reprinted by courtesy of E. P. Dutton & Co., Publishers 
and Copyrighters, 1921. 



THE BROWNIE BOOK 97 

the weaving mill. The weaving mill is in the hills where 
there is water to turn its wheels.” 

So the clothier sent to the weaving mill in the hills 
where there is water to turn its wheels and said:— 
“Weaver, send me the cloth that the many fingers at the 
factory may make dresses to send to the storekeeper in the 
small town to sell to the mother; for her children's dresses 
have burned up and they have nothing to wear.” 

But the weaver in the weaving mill in the hills sent back 
word:—“First I must get me the cotton. For that I must 
send to the cotton fields. The cotton fields are in the 
south where the land is hot and low.” 

So the weaver in the weaving mill in the hills sent to the 
cotton plantation, and he said:—“Planter, send me the 
cotton from the hot low lands that I may make cloth in 
the mill in the hills to send to the clothier in the many- 
fingered factory in the middle of the great city to be made 
into dresses to send to the storekeeper in the small town 
to sell to the mother; for her children's dresses have 
burned up and they have nothing to wear.” 

But the planter sent back word:—“First I must get the 
negroes to pick the cotton. For cotton must be picked in 
the hot sun and negroes are the only ones who can stand 
the sun.” 

So the planter went to the negroes and he said:—“Pick 
me the cotton from the hot low lands that I may send it 
to the weaver in his mill in the hills that he may weave the 
cloth to send to the clothier in the many-fingered factory 
in the middle of the great city to make dresses to send 
to the storekeeper in the small town to sell to the mother; 
for her children’s dresses have burned up and they have 
nothing to wear.' 

But the negroes answered:—“First de sun, he hab got 
to shine and shine and shine! 'Cause de sun, he am de 
only one that can make dem little seed bolls bust wide 
open!” 

So the negroes sang to the sun:—“Big sun, so shiny hot I 
Is you gwine to shine on dem cotton bolls so we can pick 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


98 

de cotton for de massah so he can send it to de weaver in 
de weaving mills in de hills to weave into cloth so he can 
send it to de clothier in de many-fingered factory in de 
middle of de big city to make dresses to send to de store¬ 
keeper in de small town so he can sell it to de mammy; 
for de chillun’s dresses hab gone and burned up and dey 
ain’t got nothin’ to wear!” 

Now the sun heard the song of the negroes of the south. 
And he began to shine. And he kept on shining on the 
hot low lands. And when the cotton bolls on the hot low 
lands felt the sun shine and shine and shine, they burst 
wide open. Then the negroes picked the cotton, the 
planter shipped it, the weaver wove it, the clothier made it 
into dresses, and the storekeeper sold them to the mother. 

So at last the many children took off their nightclothes 
and put on their new dresses. And so they were all happy 
again! 

3. Speed* 

Once there was a big beautiful white ox. His back was 
broad, his horns were long and his eyes were large and 
gentle. He went slowly sauntering down the road one 
sunshiny summer day. As he walked along he swung from 
side to side carefully putting down his small feet. And this 
is what he thought: 

“I am pleased with myself—so large, so broad, so strong 
am I. Is there anyone else who can pull so heavy a load? 
Is there anyone else who can plow so straight a furrow? 
What would the world do without me?” 

Just then he heard something tearing along the road 
behind him. “Clopperty, clopperty, clopperty, clopperty.” 
In a moment up dashed a big, black horse. 

“Greetings,” lowed the ox, slowly turning his large gentle 
eyes on the excited horse. “Why such haste, my brother?” 
The horse tossed his mane. “I’m in a hurry,” he snorted, 


♦From p. 281, “Here and Now Story Book,” by Lucy Sprague 
Mitchell, reprinted by courtesy of E. P. Dutton & Co., Publishers 
and Copyrighters, 1921. 



THE BROWNIE BOOK 


99 


“because I’m made to go fast. Why, I can go ten miles 
while you crawl one! The world has no more use for a 
great white snail like you. But if you want speed, I'm 
just what you need. Watch how fast I go!” and clopperty, 
clopperty he was of! down the road. As the ox watched the 
horse disappear he thought of what he had heard. 

“He called me a great white snail! He said he could go 
ten miles while I crawled one! Surely this swift horse is 
more wonderful than I!” 

Now as the horse went frisking along this is what he 
thought. “I am pleased with myself. I am sleek, I am 
swift—swifter than the ox. What would the world do with¬ 
out me?” 

Just then he heard a strange humming overhead. He 
glanced up. The sound came from a wire taut and vi¬ 
brating. Then he heard fast turning wheels coming “Ka- 
thump, kathump.” And what do you think that poor 
frightened horse saw coming along the road? A self-mov¬ 
ing car with a trolley overhead touching the singing wire! 
His eyes stuck out of his head and his mane stood on 
end he was so scared. What made it go, he wondered. 

“Hello, clodhopper,” shrieked the electric car. “I didn't 
know there were any of you four-footed curiosities left. 
Surely the world has no more use for you. Where you 
go in half a day, I go in an hour; where you carry one 
man, I carry ten. If you want speed I'm just what you 
need. Just watch me! He was gone leaving only the 
humming wire overhead. The poor horse thought of what 
he had heard. 

“He called me a clodhopper! He said he could go in 
an hour where I take half a day! Surely this swift car is 
more wonderful than I!” 

Now the trolley went swinging on his way thinking, “I 
am pleased with myself. My power is the same as the 
lightning that rips the sky. I am swift,—swifter than the 
ox—swifter than the horse. What would the world do 
without me?” 

Just then he heard a terrifying noise. It sounded like 


100 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


a mighty monster coughing his life away. “Chug, a chug 
a chug a chug, chug/’ Then to his horror he saw coming 
across the green field a gigantic iron creature with black 
smoke and fiery sparks streaming from a nose on top of 
his head. 

“Well, slowpoke,” screamed the engine as he came near 
the car. “Out o’ breath? No wonder. You’re not made 
to go fast like me, for I move by the great power of steam. 
Look at my monstrous boilers; see my hot fire. Where 
you go in half a day, I go in an hour; where you carry 
one man I carry twenty. If you want speed I’m just what 
you need! Goodbye. Take your time, slow coach.” And 
chug, chug, he was off leaving only a trail of dirty smoke 
behind him. The poor trolley car thought of what he had 
heard. 

“He called me a slowpoke! He said he could go in an 
hour where I take a half day! Surely this ugly engine is 
greater than I!” 

Now the engine raced down to the freight depot which 
was near the great shipping docks. As he waited to be 
loaded he thought: 

“I am pleased with myself. I am swift—swifter than 
the ox, swifter than the horse, swifter than the electric car. 
What would the world do without me? I serve everyone, 
I go everywhere-” 

Just here he was interrupted by the deep booming voice 
of a freight steamer lying alongside the wharf. “Toooot” 
is what the voice said, “you ridiculous landlubber! You 
go everywhere? What about the water? Can you go to 
France and back again? It’s only I who can haul the 
world’s goods across the ocean! And even where you can 
go, you never get trusted if they can possibly trust me, 
now do you? Did you ever think why men cut the great 
Panama Canal so that sea could flow into sea? Well, it’s 
simply because they’re smart and prefer me to you when 
they can get me. You eat too much coal with your speed,— 
that’s what the trouble is with you—you ridiculous land¬ 
lubber !” 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


IOI 


This long speech made the old steamer quite hoarse so 
he cleared his throat with a long “Toooot” and sank into 
silence. 

‘‘Of course, what he says is true/’ thought the engine. 
“At the same time it is equally true that on land I do serve 
everyone, I go everywhere-” 

Just here he was interrupted again by a most unexpected 
noise. It sounded half like a steel giggle, half like a brass 
hiccough. It made the engine uneasy. He was sure some¬ 
one was laughing at him. Majestically he turned his head¬ 
light till it lighted up a funny little automobile who was 
laughing and laughing and shaking frantically like this and 
going “zzzzz.” 

“You silly little road beetle,” shouted the great engine, 
“What on earth’s the matter with you?” 

The automobile gave one violent shake, turned off his 
spark and said in an orderly voice, “It struck my funny 
bone to hear you say you went everywhere on land, that’s 
all. Don’t you realize you’re an old fuss budget with your 
steam and your boiler and your fire and what not? You’re 
tied to your rails and if everything about your old tracks 
isn’t kept just so you tumble over into a ditch or do some 
fool thing. Now I’m the one that can endure real hard¬ 
ships. Sparks and gasoline! you just sit right there, you 
baby, you railclinger, and watch me take that hill! Honk, 
honk!” And he was off up the hill. 

The engine slowly turned back his headlight till the light 
shone full on his shiny rails. He thought of what he had 
heard. “He called me a railclinger—yes, that I am. How 
can that preposterous little beetle run without tracks? I’m 
afraid he’s more wonderful than I.” 

Now the automobile went jouncing and bouncing up the 
rough road puffing merrily and thinking, “I’m mightily 
pleased with myself. Look at the way I climb this hill. 
There’s nothing really so wonderful as I-” 

Just then he heard a sound that made his engine boil 
with fright. Dzdzdzdzdzr—it seemed to come right out 
of the sky. He got all his courage together and turned his 


102 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


searchlights up. The sight instantly killed his engine. 
Above him soared a giant aeroplane. It floated, it wheeled, 
it rose, it dropped. It looked serene, strong and swift. 
Down, down came the great thing. Through the terrific 
droning the automobile could just make out these words: 

“Dzdzdzdz. You think you're wonderful, you poor little 
creeping worm tied to the earth! I pity all you slow, slow 
things that I look down on as I fly through the sky. Ox 
made way for horse, horse made way for engine, car and 
auto, but all—all make way for me. For if you want speed, 
I’m just what you need. Dzdzdzdzdz.” 

And the great aeroplane wheeled and rose like a giant 
bird. The automobile watched him, too humbled to speak. 
Up, up, up, went the aeroplane—up, up, up 'til it was out 
of sight. 


SPEED 

The hounds they speed with hanging tongues; 
The deer they speed with bursting lungs; 

Foxes hurry, 

Field mice scurry. 

Eagles fly 

Swift, through the sky. 

And man, his face all wrinkled with worry, 
Goes speeding by tho’ he couldn’t tell why! 

But a little wild hare 

He pauses to stare 

At the daisies and baby and me 

Just sitting,—not trying to go anywhere. 

Just sitting and playing with never a care 

In the shade of a great elm tree. 

And the daisies they laugh 
As they hear the world pass, 

What is speed to the growing flowers? 

And my baby laughs 
As he sits in the grass, 

We all laugh through the sunshiny hours,— 
Through the long, dear sunshiny hours! 

For flowers and babies 
And I still know 
*Tis fun to be happy, 

’Tis fun to go slow, 

*Tis fun to take time to live and to grow. 


PART 2. “PINAFORE POCKET” STORIES 
The Dawdle Man* 

“Jimmy!” called mother’s voice up the stairs. “Do you 
know what time it is? You’ll be late to school if you don’t 
hurry.” 

“I am hurrying!” said Jimmy; but he knew he wasn’t. 

He put on a stocking very slowly and found it was wrong 
side out. So, very slowly, he took it off and put it on again. 
Then he noticed that he had put on a brown one instead of 
a black one, so that his legs didn’t match. He examined 
them for a while and laughed about it, and then, very 
slowly, went over to the bureau and got a black stocking 
out of the drawer. He put it on, yawning, as slowly as he 
could. 

Then he heard something out of the window that 
sounded like a dog fight, and ran—yes, really ran—over to 
look. It was a short dog fight and over before he got there. 
So he came slowly back and began to put on his waist, 
yawning again. 

“Jimmy!” Mother’s voice sounded very excited this 
time. “You must hurry. You dawdle, dawdle, dawdle all 
the time!” 

“I am hurrying!” Jimmy said again, when he knew he 
wasn’t. Then he began to think what a funny word dawdle 
was. He lay down on his back for a good yawn, for he was 
really very sleepy, and began to say to himself over and 
over: “Dawdle, dawdle, dawdle. Dawdle, dawdle, daw¬ 
dle.” 

“It would feel so nice,” he thought to himself, “to shut 
my eyes just a minute.” So he did, still saying to himself: 
“Dawdle, dawdle, dawdle!” 

Then he went to sleep. Lying there on the floor half 
dressed and saying, “Dawdle, dawdle, dawdle,” he had a 


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copy of “The Pinafore Pocket Story Book,” by Miriam Clark Potter, 
to be published in May, 1922. 

103 



104 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


funny dream. He dreamed he turned into a Dawdle Man. 

Of course you have never seen a Dawdle Man, or even 
heard of one before; but for that matter, neither had 
Jimmy. He dreamed he turned into a long, thin creature 
with a hooked nose, who couldn’t—no, simply couldn’t— 
move his arms and legs any faster than a snail crawls. He 
tried to get up and found that he couldn’t. After about five 
minutes he managed to lift his hand a little way from the 
floor. He said to himself: “I must get up!” and found that 
he talked slowly—so slowly that he almost forgot what he 
had started to say before he came to the end of the sen¬ 
tence. After what seemed an hour, he did get to his feet. 
He looked in the mirror and saw himself. 

Tall and thin and slow, with a dreadful hooked nose, he 
stood there, in his dream, with an enormous sign, “Dawdle 
Man,” hung around his neck. He looked so awful that he 
gave a shout of fear, and that woke him up. 

He jumped to his feet and began to dress. When he was 
tying his necktie, mother called: 

“Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy! You have just five minutes 
for breakfast.” 

He ran downstairs and ate a bowl of oatmeal. There 
were pancakes, but he didn’t have time to eat them. Moth¬ 
er hurried him off to school. 

“Now, don’t dawdle on the way!” she said. 

I wish I could tell you that he didn’t; but he did. 


The Orange Man* 

Margaret, in her new pink cotton dress with the deep 
pockets, was going with mother to do the marketing. It 
was a sunshiny morning and everybody along the street 
looked busy and happy. 

They bought a piece of meat from the butcher; Margaret 
did not care for his shop very much, though she liked the 

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to be published in May, 1922. 



THE BROWNIE BOOK 


105 


feel of the fresh sawdust on the floor. They went to the 
grocer’s to order brown sugar, flour, and asparagus. Then 
they stopped to see the Orange Man on the corner. 

The Orange Man kept wonderful fruit, very cheap. Ap¬ 
ples and bananas and grapes and lemons; but the best of 
all his things were the oranges. Fresh, juicy ones they 
were, bright and yellow. Margaret loved them. 

Mother was looking at the fruit, lifting it, asking ques¬ 
tions. Margaret felt that she could not wait to get home 
to taste an orange. She was thirsty and a little hungry, 
and it would be so delicious! The Orange Man had so 
many. He would not miss one, she felt sure, if she should 
take it and eat it. 

“And how are you today?” said the Orange Man, com¬ 
ing close to her. “You like my oranges, don’t you, little 
girl?” 

Margaret smiled up at him. 

Mother paid for her fruit, took the bag, and they started 
away. As they moved off something went “bump, bump,” 
against Margaret’s knee; something heavy, in the pocket of 
her new pink cotton dress. 

She tried to take shorter steps, so that it would not bump 
so queerly. 

“What is the matter?” mother asked. “What makes you 
walk like that? Here, let me fix your dress. It is all down 
on one side.” 

She stopped and caught hold of the pocket. Then she 
said, “Why, Margaret!” 

Margaret hung her head. 

For in the pocket was an orange. 

“How did it get in there?” asked mother. 

“It must have dropped in by itself,” Margaret said. 

“It couldn’t do that,” mother told her. “We will go right 
back to the Orange Man’s and return it, and when we get 
home we will have a talk about this.” 

So they walked back. “I am very sorry that Margaret 
took this,” said mother to the Orange Man, handing him 
the fruit. “She will never do it again/ 


106 THE BROWNIE BOOK 

The Orange Man laughed. “Why, I gave it to her!” 
he told them. “I stuck it in her pocket when she wasn’t 
looking.” 

“Oh,” said mother. “Then we will keep it. Thank you 
very much.” 

As they turned away she asked: 

“Margaret, why didn’t you tell me you didn’t take it?” 

“You said it couldn’t have got in there by itself,” ex¬ 
plained Margaret. “So I got to thinking I must have taken 
it with my hand, for I did take it, in my mind, mother.” 

Little No-Cap* 

The little boy wanted his cap. He looked on the table. 
It was not there. Then he ran upstairs to his bedroom and 
looked about, whistling, but it was not there, either. 

The cook had not seen it, nor the gardener, nor the 
woman who had come to scrub floors. So he went out into 
the garden to see if he had dropped it beside the pool. 

A great green frog was sitting on a lily pad in the middle 
of the pool. 

“Hello, little No-Cap,” it said. “No, I don’t know where 
it is. You might ask the cat.” 

So the little boy walked over to the cat, who was wash¬ 
ing her yellow paw under a snow-ball bush. 

“Have you seen my cap?” he asked her. 

“No,” she answered, and went on licking her paw. After 
a while she said, “You might ask the dog.” 

So the little boy went over to the dog. He lay stretched 
out asleep beside the garden gate. The little boy touched 
him gently, with his toe. 

“Barney!” he said. “Have you seen my cap?” 

The dog yawned and stretched. He opened his eyes, 
and looked at the little boy, reproachfully. “I was having 
such a good dream,” he said. “Some one was feeding me 

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copy of “The Pinafore Pocket Story Book,” by Miriam. Clark Potter, 
to be published in May, 1922. 



THE BROWNIE BOOK 107 

a whole platter of beefsteak bones. No, I haven’t seen 
your cap. You might ask the rabbit.” 

The rabbit lived in a pen behind the garden. The little 
boy ran over to it. The rabbit was beginning at the top 
of a lettuce leaf and eating down towards the middle. He 
was very busy nibbling. 

“Have you seen my cap anywhere?” the little boy asked. 
“I need it. I want to go and see my grandmother.” 

“No,” answered the rabbit, “I haven’t seen it, anywhere. 
I noticed it three days ago, when you were coasting down 
the hill on your bicycle. It looked like a cabbage leaf on 
your head and made me very hungry. No, little No-Cap, I 
don’t know where it is, but you might ask the owl.” 

So the little boy found the tree where the owl lived at 
the edge of the woods. 

“Owl, please tell me!” he said. “Where is my cap?” 

Two round eyes stared down at him. The owl shook its 
feathers and asked: 

“Have you looked outdoors?” 

“Yes.” 

“Have you looked in your bedroom?” 

“Yes.” 

“Have you looked on the table in the library?” 

“Yes.” 

“Then,” said the owl, “foolish, foolish little No-Cap, go 
and look where it ought to be.” 

So the little boy ran and looked on the pee in the hall 
closet, and there it was. 

Mr. E. and the Spelling Man* 

The letters in the Alphabet were talking together. 

“I have a rather easy time of it,” said Z. “I don’t have 
to work very much.” 

“Neither do I,” said X. 


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to be published in May, 1922. 



io8 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


“Well, I don’t have an easy time of it!” snapped E. “I 
work more than any letter in the English language.” 

The other letters laughed at him. “That’s all right,” 
they said. “It doesn’t hurt you to work. Here you’ve been 
used for years and years and years and you haven’t had 
one of your arms broken off yet!” 

This made E quite angry. He did not like to be laughed 
at. 

“Tomorrow,” he said, “I shall not work. I shall stay out 
of all the words.” 

Tomorrow came, and the Spelling Man arrived to use 
some words. 

“It is a nice day today,” he wrote. 

All the letters hopped into their places on command ex¬ 
cept E. So the sentence read : 

“It is a nic day today.” 

“Come, E!” said the Spelling Man. “What is the matter 
with you? Hop into your place there at the end of Nice!” 

But E didn’t move. 

“Have you had a quarrel with C, then?” asked the Spell¬ 
ing Man. “Is that why you don’t want to stand beside 
him? Well, I’ll try you somewhere else. 

And he wrote: 

“The weather is fine.” 

But E stayed over by himself and sulked, so the sentence 
read: 

“Th wathr is fin.” 

E laughed. “I have spoiled the language!” he said, 
promptly. “You can’t get along without me.” 

“Oh, yes I can!” said the Spelling Man. 

So he wrote: 

“A is good, B is jolly, C is kind, D is busy, but our fifth 
is not at all important.” 

E stared. He saw that the Spelling Man had written a 
sentence without him, and had said something that he did 
not like at all. 

“The fifth is E, and that is my own self,” he said. “I am 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


109 


important! Try me again and I will come along with the 
other letters.” 

So the Spelling Man wrote: 

“We love E when he feels pleasant.” 

Which made E very happy, as he was used in every 
single word. 


Mrs. Beaver's Shop* 

Two little girls came down to the edge of the stream, and 
old Mrs. Beaver, hiding behind the bushes, watched them. 
They took the ribbons off their hair and then, bending 
down, they began to wash their heads in the clear water 
and scrub them with soap. They laughed a good deal over 
this. When their hair was very clean they dried it in the 
sun and went home. 

Old Mrs. Beaver chuckled to her fat self, as she always 
did when she had an idea. “They called it shampooing,” 
she said. “Shampooing. That's a funny word!” 

The next day, at the edge of the wee, tiny falls, there 
was a sign, printed in animal language. It read: 

~~ OLD MRS. BEAVER’S SHAMPOOING SHOP. 

ALL KINDS OF HEADS WASHED 
(AND TAILS). 

VERY CHEAP. 

Mrs. Beaver sat by, chewing at a stick and waiting. 

Very soon a squirrel came out of the woods: 

“My tail, my tail!” he said . “I dragged it through some 
mud, and it does look verv dirty, indeed. Will you wash it, 
Mrs. Beaver?” 

“Indeed, yes,” was the answer. “Now, sir, you sit on 
this stone. Put your tail under the waterfall. Don’t 
move,” said Mrs. Beaver. 

♦Printed by courtesy of E. P. Dutton and Co., from advance 
copy of “The Pinafore Pocket Story Book,” by Miriam Clark Potter, 
to be published in May, 1922. 



IIO 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


The squirrel did as he was told, and his tail was washed 
with some white foam until it was very clean. “Now sit 
in the sun and dry it,” Mrs. Beaver told him. 

So the squirrel sat in the sun and Mrs. Beaver fanned his 
tail with a lily pad. A little bird who thought he was very 
smart indeed sang from the top of a tree: 

Wash the squirrel’s tail with foam, 

Where the waters swirl and rush. 

Comb it with a honeycomb, 

Brush it with the underbrush. 

The squirrel laughed at this, but Mrs. Beaver said 
sharply: 

“Sit still, Mr. Squirrel. You, Bird, be quiet. You will 
spoil my trade.” 

A rabbit came to have its ears washed, Mother Field- 
mouse brought her six children for a thorough shampoo, 
and even old Shaggy Bear consented to have his fur made 
fresh and fluffy. In fact, old Mrs. Beaver was so busy that 
there was a line of animals waiting on the bank. 

When she had finished with half of them she called out: 

“The rest of you may go home. I have only just enough 
soap left to wash my own self.” 

“But we will pay you money!” gasped the animals. 

“I have enough money,” replied Mrs. Beaver. “Be off, 
all of you.” 

So they watched while she dived into the stream and 
gave herself a beautiful shampoo under the falls. Then she 
slapped the sign down with her big flat tail and went home. 

On the top of the tree the bird sang: 

Mrs. Beaver, Mrs. Beaver, wash yourself with foam, 
Animals, poor animals, you may all go home! 

And Mrs. Beaver went back to her old work of chewing 
trees, and no one could ever make her wash heads or tails 
again; which showed what a funny animal she was. 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


III 


A Pair of Red Mittens* 

Once when Ruth was going to school her mother said: 

“I’ll put your red mittens in your pocket. If your hands 
are cold, put them on.” 

So Ruth started on the path that led through Checker- 
berry Woods. 

The berries looked very pretty, red against their glossy 
green leaves, and Ruth ate a few. She picked some more 
and put them in her pocket to keep for another time. 

After a while she thought she would like to eat some of 
them, so she pulled them out, and the mittens dropped 
down on the ground behind a stone. 

After Ruth had passed out of sight a squirrel came out 
of the woods and found the mittens. He was just delighted 
with them, and put them on. His paws looked very big 
and funny, but he did not think so. 

He ran home to his mother to show her. 

“They are very handsome, but they are dangerous,” she 
said when she saw them. “Take them off, my dear.” 

“Please let me wear them!” the squirrel begged. “I feel 
just like a person.” 

“Wear them if you like,” the mother squirrel replied. 
“But you will find out for yourself that I am right. They 
are dangerous.” 

The squirrel ran down the tree and nibbled at a nut. It 
was rather hard to hold the nut with the mittens on, but 
he did not care because he was so very proud of them. He 
ran to the pool to look at himself. “I wonder what mother 
meant,” he thought, “by saying these are dangerous! Very 
cosey and warm, I think them!” 

Just then he heard a noise in the bushes, and a voice 
said: 

“Who is that, with red paws?” 


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to be published in May, 1922. 



112 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


The little squirrel recognized Old Fox. He did not stay 
long in the place where he was, but ran up a tree. After 
a while he came down when Old Fox had gone. 

He was eating some roots, when he heard a growl close 
beside him. He looked up, and there was the Biggest Bear 
in the Woods. 

“I saw you, little Red-Paws!” he laughed. “Now I have 
you! When you are just the color of the logs and the 
ground, I do not notice you. Thank you for wearing those 
bright-colored things!” 

And he ran after the little squirrel. 

The little squirrel dashed home to his mother. 

“You were right,” he told her. “The mittens are dan¬ 
gerous. What shall I do with them?” 

“After the old bear has gone home,” his mother replied, 
“we will put them back in the place where you found 
them.” 

So they did. And when Ruth, coming home from school, 
found them, they felt just the same and looked just the 
same, and she never knew of their adventure in Checker- 
berry Woods. 


Christmas Eve in Startown* 

“I can see through a window,” laughed a little star. “I 
can see through a window, and watch two little children 
hanging up their stockings before a brightly burning fire. 
Their mother and father are standing with them, and they 
all look very happy. I have the best place in Startown, so 
I am the most important star in the sky!” 

“That is not a pretty way for you to talk,” said another 
star, an old grandmother, with a cap of webby light. 
“Hush, and listen to me. I can see through two windows. 
In one of them a woman is trimming a tree. She has a 
basket filled with bright colored things, and hangs them 


♦Printed by courtesy of E. P. Dutton and Co., from advance 
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to be published in May, 1922. 



THE BROWNIE BOOK 


113 

one by one on the fluffy green branches. In the other win¬ 
dow a woman is crying. There is no Christmas tree there. 
She weeps because she thinks her husband is lost at sea, 
and she will never see him again. And it is Christmas 
Eve! But she does not need to weep, because-” 

“His boat is coming safely in!” laughed another star. “I 
can see it! So I have a much better place than you. 
Really, dear grandmother star, I am more important!” 

Two little twin stars that shone with a blue light said: 
“We have the best place! For we can look down into a 
house and see a beautiful party. Such brightness, such 
happiness, such gay dancing! One little girl in a white 
dress, with a red ribbon on her pretty curls, stands in the 
middle of a ring of people; they dance around her, singing 
and laughing. There is a Christmas tree lighted, and 
good things to eat are in the pantry. Truly, my place is 
good, to see so fine a sight as this. I must be a very, very 
important star!” 

“I wish you could see what I see!” said another star, 
“Then you would believe that I have the best place. I 
look through a dimly lighted window and see a little sick 
child on a bed. There is a Christmas tree lighted beside 
her. Last week she was very, very ill; no one thought that 
she would live to see the lights of another Christmas. But 
now she is awake, and smiling. So I must be a very 
important star to be put in such a place as mine!” 

A little star with a red light said softly: 

“I feel that I must be very, very important! For a man 
lost in the woods keeps his eyes upon me, to guide him 
home.” 

Then spoke the Oldest Star in the sky: 

“None of you have the best place in the sky; none is 
the most important.” 

Then all of the stars were very ashamed. They said: 

“Of course, it is you, Oldest Star, who are the best of 
all! For you have seen the beginning of the worlds and 
the lighting of the heavens. Forgive us. This honor is 
for you.” 


H4 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


“No,” said the Oldest Star, “I have never been the best, 
and never shall be. Think! There was one star, long ago, 
the dearest and best of all the ages; only one such as that 
shall ever be. What was it? Can you tell me?” 

Then all the stars stopped quarrelling and talking, and 
they forgot their light words and empty questionings; a 
pure, beautiful light came into them, and they said softly, 
all together, in a low breath that sounded like a rush 
of wind across the sky: 

“The Christmas Star was the dearest and best of all the 
ages!” 


The Man Who Made Time* 

Up on a high mountain lived the Man Who Made Time. 
His house was a round white tower, with a big clock in 
the top of it. 

The Man was in his kitchen one bright sunny morning, 
starting his day's work. He rolled out some stuff very 
thin, on the top of a flat table. The stuff looked like pie 
crust. He cut it into big round pieces and marked around 
the edges the figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. 
Then he took a box from a shelf, a red box with “assorted 
minutes” printed on it. This he shook over his queer 
round pies. Stuff that looked like spice came tumbling 
out of the box. Then he took long, brown pieces like 
cinnamon sticks and put two on each clock face for hands. 

The Man Who Made Time stepped back, wiping his 
hands on his big, clean apron, to look at his work. He 
smiled very proudly and said to himself: 

“There! Those are finished. I have made some more 
time.” 

He put the clock pies into a big oven to bake. Then he 
took them out and arranged them on a shelf to cool. 


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THE BROWNIE BOOK 


115 

“Now,” he said, “they are done. Come, Skip and Scat- 
terscoot!” 

Two little brown men with wings came running into the 
kitchen. Each had a big basket on his arm. “Take these,” 
said the Man Who Made Time, filling the baskets with 
the clock pies. “Take them down to the world, so that 
the People will have plenty of time. Try to'distribute 
them evenly. One here and one there, you know, and not 
all in one place.” 

“Yes, indeed, sir,” said the little men, both bowing very 
low. “We always do that.” 

“But you didn’t the last time!” the Man told them. 
“You put too much time in one spot, so that a great many 
People had to wait. That meant that there was not 
enough to go around and lots of others ran out of time. 
I heard a great many complaints.” 

“We will be careful, sir,” promised the little men, and 
started out of the door. They went to the edge of the 
high mountain, spread their wings and dropped to the 
World below. 

When they weTe about a mile above the towns and 
cities they began to scatter the time. They sailed about 
like big crows and threw out the clock pies. They laughed 
and joked as they did this and kicked their heels together. 

“Tag me, Skip,” said Scatterscoot. 

Scatterscoot shot after him and slapped him merrily on 
the arm. And all the time from both baskets fell into 
one spot. 

It fell down and down to a white house below, a white 
house upon a beautiful green lawn. And all that day the 
people sat around in easy chairs, yawning, with nothing 
to do. They had too much time. 

And just next door, in a little brown house, a woman 
flew about, washing, and mending clothes, and cooking, 
and scrubbing the floor, and giving her children baths; 
working till her hair unpinned itself and straggled down 
her back in a long braid. When one of the children asked 
her, “Mother, may I have a cooky?” she said, “Yes, but 


n6 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


get it yourself; I can’t. I haven’t time enough for any¬ 
thing!” 

When Skip and Scatterscoot reached the high white 
tower of the Man Who Made Time he was waiting for 
them. 

“You are no good at all,” he said. “I shall not keep you 
if you do notf divide the time with more care. I shall send 
you away to live by yourselves.” 

But Skip and Scatterscoot only laughed and began to 
eat bread and honey; for he had said the same thing for 
thousands and thousands of years. 


The Great Gray Goose* 

All the animals in the barnyard laughed at the great 
gray goose. The cow and the sheep and the horse all made 
jokes about her. 

“You have a dreadful voice,” the cow told her. “Just 
listen to my beautiful moo. And then think how important 
I am! The whole family need my milk. They couldn’t 
keep house without it.” 

“Yes,” said the sheep, “and they need my thick coat. 
You have a very awkward way of walking! Just see how 
nicely and smoothly I march along.” And she took several 
steps in front of the great gray goose. 

“And you are an ugly color.” It was the big white horse 
who spoke. “Look at me—when the sun shines I look 
like snow! You are not important or interesting at all. 
You had better take yourself away.” 

The great gray goose walked over to the farmhouse. 
She felt lonesome and sad, now that her children had 
grown up and been taken to market. “I raised a family,” 
she told herself, “but they did not mention that. Well, 
I will walk about for a while and think what I had better 


♦Printed by courtesy of E. P. Dutton and Co., from advance 
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to be published in May, 1922. 



THE BROWNIE BOOK 117 

do. I wish I could show those three animals that I am 
as good as they are!” 

On the porch of the farmhouse sat the little girl, Mary, 
and the little boy, Jimmy. They were in the same chair, 
and Mary was reading out of a big book. The children 
were almost hidden behind it. 

The great gray goose walked over to them and looked 
at the book. She stared very hard, and then she was so 
happy that she wigwagged her tail this way and that, and 
ran to the barn as fast as she could. 

“You come with me,” she told the three animals. “I 
will show you that I am more important than you are!” 

“That is impossible,” the cow said, “but we will go with 
you just to show you that you are wrong.” 

So the great gray goose started back to the farmhouse, 
with the cow and the sheep and the horse following her. 
When she got quite near the porch she said to them: 

“You see the book that the children are reading?” 

“Yes,” they answered. 

“What is it, cow?” 

“M-o-t-h-e-r G-o-o-s-e,” replied cow, spelling out the 
letters. 

“What is it, sheep?” 

“Mother Goose,” answered sheep. 

“What is it, horse?” 

“Mother Goose,” neighed the horse. 

“Now, you see!” replied great gray goose. “I am the 
most important of all, because I have had a book written 
about me.” And she danced a barnyard jig, while the 
animals went back to the stable without a word to say. 


SECTION IV 

NATURE STUDY FOR BROWNIES 


It will be observed that while nature study is used to instill 
the elements of science, its chief uses are to cultivate a sympa¬ 
thetic understanding of the place of plants and animals in life 
and to develop emotional and aesthetic interest. In the larger 
cities the situation is very different from that of rural life and the 
country village. There are thousands of children who believe that 
cement and bricks are the natural covering of the ground, trees 
and grass being to them the unusual and artificial thing. Their 
thoughts do not go beyond the fact that milk and butter and 
eggs come from the store; cows and chickens are unknown to 
them—so much so that in a recent reunion of old settlers in a 
congested district of New York one of the greatest curiosities 
was a live cow imported from the country. Under such circum¬ 
stances, it is difficult to make the scientific problems of nature 
study of vital interest. There are no situations of the children’s 
experience into which the facts and principles enter as a matter 
of course. Even the weather is tempered and the course of the 
changing seasons has no special effect upon the lives of the 
pupils, save upon the need of greater warmth for winter. Nature 
study in the city is like one of the fine arts, such as painting or 
music; its value is aesthetic rather than directly practical. Na¬ 
ture is such a small factor in the activities of the children that it 
is hard to give it much “disciplinary” value, save as it is turned to 
civic ends. A vague feeling for this state of affairs probably 
accounts for much of the haphazard and half-hearted nature study 
teaching which goes on in city schools. There is a serious prob¬ 
lem in finding material for city children which will do for observa¬ 
tion what the facts of nature accomplish in the case of rural 
children. 

A valuable experiment with this end in view is carried on in the 
little “Play School” taught by Miss Pratt in one of the most 
congested districts of New York City. Nature study is not taught 
at all to these little children. If they go to the park or have pets and 
plant flowers it is because these things make good play material, 
because they are beautiful and interesting; if the children ask 
questions and want to know more about them, so much the better. 
Instead of telling them about leaves and grass, cows and butter¬ 
flies, and hunting out the rare opportunities for the children to 

118 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


119 

observe them, use is made of the multitudes of things which the 
children see about them in the streets and in their homes. The 
new building going up across the street furnishes just as much 
for observation and questioning as does the park, and is a much 
more familiar sight to the children. They find out how the men 
get the bricks and mortar to the upper floors; they see the sand 
cart unloading; possibly one child knows that the driver has been 
to the river to get the sand from a boat. They notice the delivery 
man going through the streets, and find out where he got the 
bread to take to their mothers. They see the children on the play¬ 
ground and learn that besides the fun they have, the playing is 
good for their bodies. They walk to the river and see the ferries 
carrying people back and forth and the coal barges unloading. 
All these facts are more closely related to them than the things 
of country life; hence it is more important that they understand 
their meaning and their relation to their own lives, while acute¬ 
ness of observation is just as well trained. Such work is also 
equally valuable as a foundation for the science and geography 
the pupils will study later on. Besides awakening their curiosity 
and faculties of observation, it shows them the elements of the 
social world, which the later studies are meant to explain. 

The Elementary School at Columbia, Missouri, has arranged its 
curriculum according to the same principle. All the material from 
nature which the children use and study they find near the school 
or their homes, and their study of the seasons and the weather 
is made from day to day, as the Columbia weather and seasons 
change. Even more important is the work the children do in 
studying their own town, their food, clothing, and houses, so that 
the basis of the study is not instruction given by the teacher but 
what the children themselves have been able to find out on excur¬ 
sions and by keeping their eyes open. The material bears a rela¬ 
tion to their own lives, and so is the more available for teaching 
the children how to live. The reasons for teaching such things to 
the city bred child are the same as those for teaching the country 
child the elements of gardening and the possibilities of the local 
soil. By understanding his own environment, child or adult learns 
the measure of the beauty and order about him, and respect for 
real achievement, while he is laying the foundations for his own 
control of the environment.—“Schools of Tomorrow,” John Dewey, 
pp. 98-102. 

“Between six and fourteen years of age is the neglected period 
for science, and it is the age when the story may function in the 

biggest way as a natural educational tool.. . It is 

the age of the first crude control of the ‘scientific instinct,' 
the tendency to experiment and explore. It is the age for fixing 
the questioning habit and building a common-sense confidence in 
and familiarity with nature. These results follow from the logical 
processes involved in the activities, not from being presented with 



120 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


the formalized and logical results of adult science. The child will 
have none of this latter if he can help it; he wants to do his own 
experimenting. In this process again the story gives the larger 
insight. The child acquires facts by experimentation, observa¬ 
tion, exploration, but the larger meanings and relationships re¬ 
quire imaginative reconstruction. The child can observe the fish 
or the fly at different stages of their development, but the story 
of the life history of the fish or fly gives what observation cannot 
supply. It is as fascinating as any fairy tale when told with the 
same consideration for dramatic.form, and the story is true be¬ 
sides. The child cannot understand evolution as presented by 
Darwin, or by the teacher of biology in the high schools; but the 
child even of eight revels in the stories that carry the facts of 
evolution, and thus he gains a right feeling toward the wonderful 
meaning of the progress of natural things, which makes later 
thinking true and easy. So strong is the response to the story 
that even the history of physical things when set in a natural 
story form, stimulates.”* 

“Children learn to love nature just as they learn to love a 
picture, a dog, or a swimming hole, through experience with it 
that gives joyous results. The country lad, whose Saturdays and 
vacation days are associated with cowslip, dragon flies, and quiet 
hours beside a trout stream casting a line for the elusive catch, 
is not likely to find schoolroom nature study a dull subject, be¬ 
cause, through hours of enjoyment, he is equipped with an emo¬ 
tional and imaginative background that gives color to every fact 
presented. But he who has not had this opportunity, who knows 
as little of wild life as a cormorant knows of the Colorado crags, 
will not respond eagerly to a series of facts, because experience 
has not previously aroused his imagination concerning them, and 
he cannot comprehend their mystery and wonder. If these facts 
are presented through the medium of the story, if they depict the 
life of the open as vividly as some painting that meets the eye, 
they will give the other more fortunate child additional pleasure, 
and furnish incentive for further investigation. They will not 
only awaken the uninformed child to a realization of the wonders 
and delights nature holds for him, but they will give the other, 
more fortunate child additional pleasure, just as a favorite fairy 
tale does when told again and again by one who loves it and can 
make its moods his own.”t 


♦From “Education by Story Telling,” by Katherine Dunlap 
Cather, World Book Co., 1920. Introduction by Editor, Clark W. 
Hetherington, p. XVI. 

tCather, K. D., op. cit. pp. 179, 180. 



PART 1. NATURE STORIES 

The following stories have been chosen in part because 
they give the information required for the Brownie grades 
of Bee, Bob-White and Beaver, and also because of the 
style of presentation, which indicates the best form of 
nature study for children of this age. Such stories should 
be supplemented whenever possible by observation at first 
hand, in field, wood, park, museum or zoo. 

Enough material is given in these stories alone on which 
to base games and little dramatizations. 

The first story about “The Queen Bee” is reprinted 
from “Among the Barnyard People,” by Clara D. Pierson, 
by courtesy of E. P. Dutton Company, publishers and 
copyrighters. The Brownie Leader interested especially 
in Nature Study will wish to see the whole book, and 
others in the series, including: 

1. “Among the Pond People,” which has tales about frogs, 
cranes, eels, caddis worms, dragon-flies, mud turtles, 
muskrats and crayfish. 

2. “Among the Night People,” with tales of night-loving 
creatures, such as moths, fireflies, skunks, owls and 
mice. 

3. “Among the Forest People,” with stories of crows, 
woodpeckers, ground hogs, snakes and moles. 

4. “Among the Meadow People,” with butterflies, snails, 
ants, spiders, beetles, crickets, earth-worms and other 
creatures of the grass. 

The stories of the Bob White and the Beaver are taken 
from “Trails to Wood and Waters,” by Clarence Hawkes, 
by courtesy of the publishers, G. W. Jacobs, Philadelphia. 
This book is introduced by William T. Hornaday, Direc¬ 
tor of the New York Zoological Park, who guarantees the 
scientific accuracy of the stories. 

Another book containing stories of wild animal life, and 
an especially good one about “Beaver Pioneers,” is the 
“Story of a Thousand Year Pine,” by Enos A. Mills, pub¬ 
lished in the Riverside Literature Series, by Houghton 
Mifflin. 


121 


122 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


1. THE BEE* 

In a sheltered corner of the farmyard, where the hedge 
kept off the cold winds and the trees shaded from hot sum¬ 
mer sunshine, there were many hives of Bees. One could 
not say much for the Drones, but the others were the 
busiest of all the farmyard people, and they had so much 
to do that they did not often stop to visit with their 
neighbors. 

In each hive, or home, there were many thousand Bees, 
and each had his own work. First of all, there was the 
Queen. You might think that being a Queen meant play¬ 
ing all the time, but that is not so, for to be a really good 
Queen, even in a Beehive, one must know a great deal and 
keep at work all the time. The Queen Bee is the mother of 
all the Bee Babies, and she spends her days in laying eggs. 
She is so very precious and important a person that the 
first duty of the rest is to take care of her. 

The Drones are the stoutest and finest-looking of all 
the Bees, but they are lazy, very, very lazy. There are 
never many of them in a hive, and like most lazy people, 
they spend much of their time in telling the others how 
to work. They do not make wax or store honey, and as 
the Worker Bees do not wish them to eat what has been 
put away for winter, they do not live very long. 

Most of the Bees are Workers. They are smaller than 
either the Queen Mother or the Drones, and they gather all 
the honey, make all the wax, build the comb, and feed the 
babies. They keep the hive clean, and when the weather 
is very warm, some of them fan the air with their wings 
to cool it. They guard the doorway of the hive, too, and 
turn away the robbers who sometimes come to steal their 
honey. 


♦From “Among the Fairyland People,” by Clara Dillingham 
Pierson. Used by courtesy of E. P. Dutton Co., publishers and 
copyrighters. 



THE BROWNIE BOOK 


123 


In these busy homes, nobody can live long just for him¬ 
self. Everybody helps somebody else, and that makes life 
pleasant. The Queen Mother often lays as many as two 
thousand eggs in a day. Most of these are Worker eggs, 
and are laid in the small cells of the brood comb, which 
is the nursery of the hive. A few are Drone eggs and are 
laid in large cells. She never lays any Queen eggs, for 
she does not want more Queens growing up. It is a law 
among the Bees that there can be only one grown Queen 
living in each home. 

The Workers, however, know that something might 
happen to their old Queen Mother, so, after she has gone 
away, they sometimes go into a cell where she has laid a 
Worker egg, and take down the waxen walls between it 
and the ones on either side to make a very large royal cell. 
They bite away the wax with their strong jaws and press 
the rough edges into shape with their feet. When this 
egg hatches, they do not feed the baby, or Larva, with 
tasteless bread made of flower-dust, honey, and water, as 
they would if they intended it to grow up a worker or a 
Drone. Instead, they make what is called royal jelly, 
which is quite sour, and tuck this all around the Larva, 
who now looks like a little white worm. 

The royal jelly makes her grow fast, and in five days 
she is so large as to nearly fill the cell. Then she stops 
eating, spins a cocoon, and lies in it for about two and a 
half days more. When she comes out of this, she is called 
a Pupa. Sixteen days after the laying of the egg, the young 
Queen is ready to come out of her cell. It takes twenty- 
one days for a Worker to become fully grown and twenty x - 
five for a Drone. 

In the hive by the cedar tree, the Queen Mother was 
growing restless and fussy. She knew that the Workers 
were raising some young Queens, and she tried to get 
to the royal cells. She knew that if she could only do 
that, the young Queens would never live to come out. The 
Workers knew this, too, and whenever she came near there, 
they made her go away. 


124 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


The Queen Larvae and Pupae were of different ages, and 
one of them was now ready to leave her cell. They could 
hear her crying to be let out, but they knew that if she and 
the Queen Mother should meet now, one of them would 
die. So instead of letting her out, they built a thick wall of 
wax over the door and left only an opening through which 
they could feed her. When she was hungry she ran her 
tongue out and they put honey on it. 

She wondered why the Workers did not let her out, 
when she wanted so much to be free. She did not yet 
know that Queen Mothers do not get, along well with 
young Queens. 

The Workers talked it over by themselves. One of 
them was very tender-hearted. “It does seem too bad," 
said she, “to keep the poor young Queen shut up in her 
cell. I don’t see how you can stand it to hear her piping 
so pitifully all the time. I am sure she must be beautiful. 
I never saw a finer tongue than the one she runs out for 
honey." 

“Humph!" said a sensible old Worker, who had seen 
many Queens hatched and many swarms fly away, “You’d 
be a good deal more sorry if we did let her out now. It 
would not do at all." 

The tender-hearted Worker did not answer this, but 
she talked it over with the Drones. “I declare," said she, 
wiping her eyes with her forefeet, “I can hardly gather 
a mouthful of honey for thinking of her.” 

“Suppose you hang yourself up and make wax then," 
said one Drone. “It is a rather sunshiny day, but you 
ought to be doing something, and if you cannot gather 
honey you might do that." This was just like a Drone. 
He never gathered honey or made wax, yet he could not 
bear to see a Worker lose any time. 

The Worker did not hang herself up and make wax, 
however. She never did that except on cloudy days, and 
she was one of those Bees who seem to think that nothing 
will come out right unless they stop working to see about 
it. There was plenty waiting to be done, but she was too 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


125 


sad and anxious to do it. She might have known that 
since her friends were only, minding the law, it was right 
to keep the new Queen in her cell. 

The Queen Mother was restless and fussy. She could 
not think of her work, and half the time she did not know 
whether she was laying a Drone egg or a Worker egg. In 
spite of that, she did not make any mistake, or put one 
into the wrong kind of cell. ‘‘I cannot stay here with a 
young Queen,” said she. “I will not stay here. I will 
take my friends with me and fly away.” 

Whenever she met a Worker, she struck her feelers on 
those of her friend, and then this friend knew exactly how 
she felt about it. In this way the news was passed 
around, and soon many of the Workers were as restless 
as their Queen Mother. They were so excited over it at 
times that the air of the hive grew very hot. After a while 
they would become quiet and gather honey once more. 
They whispered often to each other. “Do you know where 
we are going?” one said. 

“Sh!” was the answer. “The guides are looking for a 
good place now.” 

“I wish the Queen Mother knew where we are going,” 
said the first. 

“How could she?” replied the second. “You know very 
well that she has not left the hive since she began to lay 
eggs. Here she comes now.” 

“Oh, dear!” exclaimed the Queen Mother. “I can never 
stand this. I certainly cannot. To think I am not allowed 
to rule in my own hive! The Workers who are guarding 
the royal cells drive me away whenever I go near them. 
I will not stay any longer.” ^ 

“Then,” said a Drone, as though he had thought of it 
for the first time, “why don’t you go away?” 

“I shall,” said she. “Will you go with me?” 

“No,” said the Drone. “I hate moving and furnishing 
a new house. Besides, somebody must stay here to take 
care of the Workers and the young Queen.” 


126 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


The Queen Mother walked away. “When we were both 
young/’ she said to herself, “he would have gone anywhere 
with me.” 

And the Drone said to himself, “Now, isn’t that just like 
a Queen Mother! She has known all the time that there 
would be young Queens coming on, and that sh$ would 
have to leave, yet here she is, making the biggest kind of 
fuss about it. She ought to remember that it is the law.” 

Indeed she should have remembered that it was the law, 
for everything is done by law in the hive, and no one 
person should find fault. The law looks after them all, 
and will not let any one have more than his rightful 
share. 

That same afternoon there was a sudden quiet in their 
home. The Workers who had been outside returned and 
visited with the rest. While they were waiting, a few 
who were to be their guides came to the door of the hive, 
struck their wings together, and gave the signal for start¬ 
ing. Then all who were going with the Queen Mother 
hurried out of the door and flew with her in circles over¬ 
head. “Good-bye!” they called. “Raise all the young 
Queens you wish. We shall never come back. We are 
going far, far away, and we shall not tell you where. It 
is a lovely place, a very lovely place.” 

“Let them go,” said the Drones who stayed behind. 
“Now, isn’t it time to let out the young Queen?” 

“Not yet,” answered a Worker, who stood near the door. 
“Not one feeler shall she put outside her cell until that 
swarm is out of sight.” 

The tender-hearted Worker came up wiping her eyes. 
“Oh, that poor Queen Mother!” said she. “I am so sorry 
for her. I positively cannot gather honey today, I feel 
so badly about her going.” 

“Better keep on working,” said her friend. “It’s the 
best thing in the world for that sad feeling. Besides, you 
should try to keep strong.” 

“Oh, I will try to eat something from the comb,” 
the answer, “but I don’t feel like working.” 


was 



THE BROWNIE BOOK 


127 


“Zzzt!” said the other Worker. “I think if you can eat, 
you can hunt your food outside, and not take honey we 
have laid up for winter or food that will be needed for the 
children.” 

The Drones chuckled. It was all right for them to be 
lazy, they thought, but they never could bear to see a 
Worker waste time. “Ah,” cried one of them suddenly, 
“what is the new swarm doing now?” 

The words were hardly out of his mouth when the 
Queen Mother crawled into the hive again. “Such dread¬ 
ful luck!” said she. “A cloud passec} over the sun just 
as we were alighting on a tree to rest.” 

“I wouldn't have come back for that,” said a Drone. 

“No,” said she, in her airiest way, “I dare say you 
wouldn’t, but I would. I dare not go to a new home after 
a cloud has passed over the sun. I think it is a sign of 
bad luck. I should never expect a single egg to hatch if I 
went on. We shall try it again to-morrow.” 

All the others came back with her, and the hive was once 
more crowded and hot. “Oh dear,” said the tender-hearted 
Worker, “isn’t it too bad to think they couldn’t go?” 

The next morning they started again and were quite 
as excited over it as before. The Queen Mother had fussed 
and fidgeted all the time, although she had laid nine hun¬ 
dred and seventy-three eggs while waiting, and that in 
spite of interruptions. “Being busy keeps me from think¬ 
ing,” said she, “and I must do something.” This time the 
Queen Mother lighted on an apple-tree branch, and the 
others clung to her until all who had left the hive were 
in a great mass on the branch,—a mass as large as a small 
cabbage. They meant to rest a little while and then fly 
away to the new home chosen by their guides. 

While they were hanging here, the farmer came under 
the tree, carrying a long pole with a wire basket fastened 
on the upper end. He shook the clustered Bees gently into 
it, and then changed them into an empty hive that stood 
beside their old home. 

“Now, 1 ’ said the Workers who had stayed in the old 


128 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


hive, “we will let out the new Queen, for the Queen Mother 
will never return.” 

It did not take long to bite away the waxen wall and 
let her out. Then they gathered around and caressed her, 
and touched their feelers to her and waited upon her, and 
explained why they could not let her out sooner. She was 
still a soft gray color, like all young Bees when they first 
come from the cell, but this soon changed to the black 
worn by her people. 

The Workers flew in and out, and brought news from 
the hive next door. They could not go there, for the law 
does not allow a Bee who lives in one home to visit in 
another, but they met their old friends in the air or when 
they were sipping honey. They found that the Queen 
Mother had quite given up the idea of living elsewhere 
and was as busy as ever. The farmer had put a piece of 
comb into the new hive so that she could begin house¬ 
keeping at once. 

The new Queen was petted and kept, at home until she 
was strong and used to moving about. That was not long. 
Then she said she wanted to see the world outside. “We 
will go with you,” said the Drones, who were always glad 
of an excuse for flying away in pleasant weather. They 
said there was so much noise and hurrying around in the 
hive that they could never get any real rest there during 
the daytime. 

So the young Queen flew far away and saw the beautiful 
world for the first time. Such a blue sky! Such green 
grass! Such fine trees covered with sweet-smelling blos¬ 
soms! She loved it all as soon as she saw it. “Ah,” she 
cried, “what a wonderful thing it is to live and see all this! 
I am so glad that I was hatched. But now I must hurry 
home, for there is so much to be done.” 

She was a fine young Queen, and the Bees were all proud 
of her. They let her do anything she wished as long as she 
kept away from the royal cells. She soon began to work 
as the old Queen Mother had done, and was very happy 
in her own way. She would have liked to open the royal 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


129 


cells and prevent more Queens from hatching, and when 
they told her it was the law which made them keep her 
away, slie still wanted to bite into them. 

“That poor young Queen Mother! 0 sighed the tender¬ 
hearted Worker. “I am so sorry for her when she is kept 
away from the royal cells. This is a sad, sad world!” 
But this isn’t a sad world by any means. It is a beautiful, 
sunshiny, happy world, and neither Queen Bees nor any¬ 
body else should think it hard if they cannot do every 
single thing they wish. The law looks after great and 
small, and there is no use in pouting because we cannot 
do one certain thing, when there is any amount of de¬ 
lightful work and play awaiting us. And the young Queen 
Mother knew this. 


2. The Family of Bob-White* 

Blithe, cheerful little Bob-White sat on the top of a bar- 
post whistling his merry call, “bob-white, bob, bob-bob- 
white, bob, bob-white.” 

Bob-White was very well satisfied with the whole world 
that spring morning, and with his own lot in particular, for 
something told him in the plainest kind of language that 
spring had come. In fact all the birds that he had seen 
this morning had been talking about it, and Bob-White 
knew just enough of their language to understand. What 
else did blue bird mean by his sweet “cheerily, cheerily,” 
and Cock Robin, by his lusty “cheerup, cheerup.” Still 
more convincing than either of these, was a great noisy 
flock of wild geese that swung rapidly across the spring 
sky, flinging afar to the brown earth their strong clear 
water slogan of “honk, honk, honk.” 

Bob-White, like the rest of the quail in the vicinity, had 


♦From “Trails to Woods and Waters," by Clarence Hawkes. Re¬ 
printed by courtesy of George W. Jacobs and Co., Philadelphia, pub¬ 
lishers and copyrighters. 



130 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


just passed through a very severe winter, so was it any 
wonder that he whistled his merriest tune this balmy 
morning? 

Each time when he stopped whistling he hopped down 
on the top bar of the gateway and strutted back and forth 
like a veritable turkey cock. First, he would extend one 
wing to its full sweep, then the other, and finally spreading 
both wings and his comical short tail he would strut up 
and down saying in his every motion, “now if you want to 
see a fine bird just look at me.” 

He was not a showy bird, although his suit was neat 
and quite jaunty. His back and shoulders were a combina¬ 
tion of brown and gray, while his undersides were lighter. 
The feathers on the top of his head were rather inclined 
to stand up like a pompadour, and under his throat was a 
white necktie. The most that could be said for such a 
dress was, that it was not conspicuous, and so was not 
calculated to attract the eyes of any of Bob-White’s 
enemies, such as hawks, owls, or men. 

But Bob-White was whistling for something else beside 
good spirits this morning. He was whistling for a wife. 

Presently from down across the fields came a clear, 
“white, white, white,” or if you had been in a more roman¬ 
tic frame of mind you might have thought that the clear 
low whistling said, “here, here, here.” 

Bob-White heard it, and was pleased with the effect of 
his own musical voice, so he redoubled his calls of “bob- 
white, bob-white,” and listened at regular intervals for the 
musical “white, white, white,” that came in return. 

When this calling and answering had gone on for some 
time Bob-White flew away to investigate, and his wings 
made such a whirring and struck so fast that this fact alone 
proclaimed him a member of the partridge family. He is 
the smallest of all the partridges, and is known in parts of 
the south as the Virginia partridge. 

While Bob-White is making love to a shy lady quail 
down in the thicket, let us briefly consider his short life 
up to this morning, that you may know why he was so glad 





THE BROWNIE BOOK I 3 I 

spring had come, and why the answering call from the 
thicket had been so sweet to his ears. 

The latteT part of May, the previous spring, Bob-White 
had been merely one of fifteen eggs lying cunningly con¬ 
cealed in a nest made on the ground under a brush fence. 

About the middle of June all of these fifteen eggs had 
begun to manifest sings of life, and in about fifteen minutes 
after the first tiny bill appeared, the whole brood was 
hatched. 

They were no featherless, hairless, gawky fledglings, but 
bright, alert chicks fairly well clad, and as smart as crickets. 

In a few hours they were following their mother about 
picking up their living just as though they had done noth¬ 
ing else for years. 

But an evil fate had pursued the brood from the very 
day of hatching. When they were a week old a weasel 
happened upon them in the night, and before their vigilant 
little mother had been able to scatter and hide them, he 
sucked the blood of three, and the family was reduced to 
an even dozen. 

A grub or louse had claimed two more within another 
week, and the family was down to ten. The next thief to 
come among them was the sparrow-hawk, who took one 
in each claw at a single swoop, leaving but eight; these 
eight, however, lived until the hunting season opened in 
the autumn, when four of them went into a game bag be¬ 
fore they even thought of scattering and thus diminishing 
their peril. 

After that ominous day they never knew just when the 
deafening banging would begin, and they were not left ini 
peace for many days at a time. 

When the season finally closed, there was two chicks 
and one of the old birds left. Only three out of seventeen, 
the original family. 

In addition to such bad luck as this the following winter 
had been exceptionally hard. The scattered grain, and 
the weed-seeds had been covered by the first snow-storm, 
and they did not appear again until the warm spring rains 


132 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


uncovered the brown earth, so the quail had to depend en¬ 
tirely upon the winter berries and buds for sustenance. 

The bright red berries of the sumac, the bitter-sweet, and 
the purple berries of the Virginia creeper, had stood them 
in good stead. Also juniper and poison ivy berries had 
furnished them many a meal. 

When these were all gone they went into the deep woods 
and scratched about fallen logs for partridge berries or 
occassionally discovered a wind-swept knoll where checker- 
berries could be found. 

With such scant food as this, and with seed obtained 
from an occasional tall weed, that stuck its friendly head 
above the snow they had managed to live until February, 
but finally even this supply gave out. and they resorted to 
their last hope, and visited a farmyard in the vicinity. 

Each day they went to the barnyard, and scratched in 
the dung-heaped for particles of grain. It was while feed¬ 
ing in this manner that the house-cat took one, and the 
quail family was reduced to a pair. But they still came 
to the farmyard, as they could do nothing else. 

Bob-White and his sister clung very closely to one 
another now they were all that was left of the large quail 
family, but one night while they were sleeping side by side 
in a tangle of bitter-sweet and fir tree, a great owl reached 
in his strong talons and took one, and Bob-White was left 
alone in the great world. 

But this had happened only two or three weeks before 
the time when our story begins, and Bob-White had found 
food in plenty shortly after the owl had deprived him of 
his companion. 

At first, Bob-White could not locate the shy little lady 
quail who had been calling to him from the thicket; but 
he finally discovered her picking away for dear life at 
weed-seed, just as though breakfast was much more to her 
taste than love making. 

For a long time she would take no notice of him but 
he strutted up and down so persistently that she finally 
looked up. Even then, her manner plainly said, “Why, 



THE BROWNIE BOOK 


133 


where in the world did you come from; I did not suppose 
there was a bob-white anywhere in this region ?” Little by 
little, Bob-White gained her goodwill until at last she 
would let him help her scratch for weed-seeds. They spent 
a very pleasant forenoon together and the thing was as 
good as settled. 

The following morning, Bob-White was again perched 
on his barpost whistling his cheery call-note, but when 
the answer came up clear from the thicket, '‘white, white, 
white,” and he flew down to meet his intended, sad to 
relate, another bob-white was helping her hunt for weed- 
seed. 

Then her own particular Bob-White flew at his rival 
and a cock fight began which would have been most comi¬ 
cal had not the combatants been so deadly in earnest. They 
lowered their heads and came at each other in true game¬ 
cock style, striking with beak and wing and sometimes 
even buffeting one another over. 

But our own Bob-White was fighting for his rights, for 
the admiration and affection of his mate and the nest they 
intended to build, while the other was merely an intruder; 
so, having right on his side, he soon punished his rival 
severely and he flew away discomfited. 

When the field was clear and Bob-White had been left 
conqueror, he went up to his fickle wife and gave her a 
savage peck on the head as much as to say, “You faithless 
hussy, if it had not been for you, I should not have had 
all this trouble.” 

Only once more did a rival dare to make love to Mrs. 
Bob-White, and then the intruder was driven away as be¬ 
fore and the wife punished for her faithlessness. 

This honeymoon lasted for about ten days and then Mr. 
and Mrs. Bob-White selected a place for their nest. It was 
under the edge of an old fallen log, well screened from 
view and sheltered from the rain. Each day for about 
two weeks Mrs. Bob-White deposited an egg in the nest, 
until the number was sixteen, then began her arduous task 
of incubation. 


134 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


Two or three times during that long three weeks Mr. 
Bob-White took his turn upon the eggs for half an hour 
while his wife went for a dust bath. 

About the twentieth of June Mrs. Bob-White appeared, 
closely followed by fourteen quail chicks. She was cluck¬ 
ing and bristling like the good little mother partridge th^it 
she is, and each of the tiny chicks was spry as a cricket. 
It had not been necessary for the old birds to carry food 
to these nestlings. After the first tiny little creature had 
picked his way through the shell, his lusty peep had set 
all the others to work and in half an hour the whole brood 
had arrived. Then, when they had dried and had a little 
time in which to gain strength, they were ready for the 
world. 

Forth they all came, the mother clucking and bristling 
and the chicks scampering this way and that, pecking at 
almost invisible plant-lice and bugs and feeding themselves 
within the same hour that they came from the nest. 

For two or three nights Mrs. Bob-White led them back 
to the old nest, but after that it was given up and they 
never returned to it. 

One night when they were about a week old Mrs. Bob- 
White led them to sleep in a little hollow under an over¬ 
hanging rock. During the night there was a terrible down¬ 
pour of rain and the hollow filled rapidly. Before the 
young mother could conduct her chicks to higher and 
drier ground, three were drowned in the puddle. 

After this, there were no fatalities in the quail family 
for nearly two months. For the first two weeks Bob- 
White hovered about his family trying to protect them 
and giving his wife much good advice about bringing up 
children; but she finally told him that she could get along 
quite well without him, and he took her word. 

The August moon hung large and luminous above the 
eastern hills. There was the smell of ripening fruit and 
maize on the summer night air and the cricket and the 
katy-did were singing in the grass. Sweet corn was al- 




THE BROWNIE BOOK I35 

ready in the milk, but the field corn was not yet ripe 
enough for the palate of the fastidious raccoon. 

Down from the deep woods came Mr. Raccoon shuffling 
and shambling like the real little bear that he is. About 
his eyes were two black circles looking like spectacles and 
around the tip of his^nose was a white ring. His tail also 
was ringed. There is not another such suit as his in the 
entire wilderness east of the Rocky Mountains. Out of 
the woods he came and across the pasture he shuffled, 
eager, alert, and watchful, often stopping to test the air 
and poke his inquisitive nose under a log or flat stone. 

Soon a fresh puff of night wind brought him a most 
exciting scent. He knew it quite well. It was that of a 
bevy of quail in hiding. The old raccoon knew just how 
they stood in that circular bunch with their tails all to¬ 
gether and their heads looking outward, that they might 
face in every direction. 

He flattened himself to the ground and crept forward 
on his belly almost as still as a cat. He was no longer the 
clumsy little bear but the cautious hunter. Once he heard 
the bevy stirring uneasily in their sleep as though they 
had knowledge of coming danger. Then he lay very still 
and waited until the mother bird’s “creets” and the soft 
peeps of the chickens had ceased. He now crept forward 
again. Nearer and nearer he drew, going more cautiously 
with each succeeding step, until at last he was within 
springing distance. He then flattened himself out on the 
ground, intensified all his muscles until they were like 
steel and with a sudden motion sprang full in the midst of 
the sleeping bevy. 

Click, click, click, went his jaws, snapping like lightning 
in every direction. 

There was the sudden whirr of many wings and a 
chorus of squeaks, peeps, and squawks from a dozen birds 
and in three seconds’ time the bevy was gone with the 
exception oj two wounded birds who fluttered feebly in 
the grass. But a bite apiece from Mr. Raccoon soon 
stopped their fluttering. Then the hunter lay down where, 


136 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


a few minutes before, the quail family had slept and made 
his supper of quail, without toast. 

August and September came and went and the quail 
family grew plump upon grain and weed-seed but the loss 
of grain to the farmer was more than offset by the weed- 
seed they destroyed.* 

October with its corn in the shock and golden pumpkins 
and harvested grain and fruit was with us when another 
hunter came down from the great wood in quest of warm 
blood. This hunter did not shuffle as the old raccoon had 
done, but his gait was a steady trot. When the night 
wind stirred, bearing the delicious fragrance of witch-hazel, 
one might have noticed a musky, pungent odor from the 
night prowler. It was Red-Fox, the wise and the witty, 
and a much more successful hunter than the old raccoon. 

He, too, got a scent of quail down in the pasture and 
followed it eagerly. His step was swift and sure and his 
nose was keen. Swiftly like a dark shadow he advanced 
until he located the sleeping quail under an old brush fence. 
Then he crept forward foot by foot until he was almost upon 
them, when with a sudden spring he darted into their 
midst. 

Again, there was the sudden whirr of many wings and 
cries of fear and pain, mingled with the rapid click, click, 
of the fox’s jaw. When the bevy was gone and Mr. Fox 
nosed about under the fence he found he also had bagged 
a pair of quail. 

No more misfortunes befell the quail family until the 
first day of the open season. Then a party of sportsmen 
with dogs and guns drove them from cover to cover, while 
the guns cracked merrily. It was a cold, raw day of scud¬ 
ding clouds and biting winds that plainly told of coming 
winter. This, added to the incessant roar of firearms, 


♦It has been estimated by the agricultural department of the 
United States that the quail in Maryland and Virginia annually 
destroy two hundred and fifty tons of weed-seed. 





THE BROWNIE BOOK 137 

made that day like the crack of doom to the family of 
Bob-White. 

Towards night, a biting sleet and rain-storm set in and 
the hunting ceased, but the quail family had been scattered 
in every direction and their friends at the farmhouse won¬ 
dered if any had survived, so the old man and small boy 
went out into the storm to look for the quail. The old 
man went ahead with a long, swinging stride while the 
small boy trotted after him. 

How cheerless was the sound of the hail rattling upon 
the dead leaves and grass, and the moaning of the winds 
in the treetops! All the joy and gladness seemed to have 
departed from the naked, forsaken earth. 

These two had followed the fortunes of the quail family 
from the very first. They had discovered the nest under 
the old log and had visited it several times during incuba¬ 
tion. They had fished the three water soaked chicks out of 
the puddle after the rain-storm where the folly of their 
mother had been only too apparent. 

They had also happened upon the remains of the old 
racoon’s supper, scattered about near that circle of foot¬ 
prints. The depredations of Red Fox they had likewise 
discovered while repairing the brush fence. They had also 
seen the quail many times in neighboring grain fields and 
had heard their cheery “more-wet” before each rain-storm; 
so was it any wonder that their hearts were heavy to¬ 
night? 

The old man vaulted lightly over the barway into the 
pasture while the boy crawled between the bars. They 
went on for fifteen or twenty rods and then crawled under 
a clump of small spruces and sat down where the leaves 
were still dry. 

Suddenly, from their very midst, came a clear shrill 
whistle, pure and sweet as the note of a piccolo, “bob- 
white, bob-white, bob-bob-white.” 

“They are right here in the bush, Ben,” exlaimed the 
boy in an eager whisper, pulling excitedly at his com¬ 
panion’s sleeve. 


138 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


The old man chuckled and laughed softly. “That was 
me,” he whispered. “I had my hand over my mouth so 
you could not tell where the sound came from.” Again he 
repeated the musical call and both waited and listened. 
Then, faint and far across the pasture land, like an echo, 
came the reply, “bob-white, bob-white, bob-bob-white.” 

“That’s him,” whispered Ben. “Now keep perfectly still 
and you will hear something worth while.” 

Presently the two watchers under the little spruces 
heard the well-known whirr of short, fast beating wings, 
and a second later Bob-White himself plumped down 
under the cover within two yards of them. He shook the 
wet from his wings, preened his feathers for a moment 
and then swelling out his breast, uttered his sweet call- 
note. It was useless for the old man to call now that the 
real Bob-White had sounded his roll call so they waited, 
and listened. 

Again came the low whistle from far away in the pas¬ 
ture land but this time it was only “white, white, white.” 
Soon the swift whirr of beating wings was heard and a 
moment later the second quail alighted under the scrub 
spruce. 

“Cureet, cureee, cur-r, cure-e-e,” cried Bob-White in soft, 
quail words of love and welcome. “Peep, pure-e-, e-e, e-e,” 
replied the chicken. 

The greeting and response were scarcely over when an¬ 
other quail whirred under the bush and another, and still 
another. 

“Cureet, cure-e-e, cur-r, cure-e-e,” was the salutation of 
Bob-White to each newcomer as they huddled together 
and rejoiced in bird language that they had found one 
another again. After a few minutes they quieted down 
and the listeners knew that they had formed themselves 
into the well-known bunch and fallen asleep, so they 
stole quietly away, leaving them dry and comfortable under 
the spruce, but it was only part of the family, Bob-White 
and four of his chicks; the little hen and the other four 
had gone away in the hunter’s game bag. 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


139 


December and January came and went and the leafless, 
flowerless world was the clutch of midwinter. Day after 
day the snow fell and the cold was so intense that some¬ 
times in the deep woods the stout heart of maple birch was 
cracked asunder. 

One morning, when the small boy who had gone to the 
pasture that night with Old Ben to search for the quail 
awoke, he found the world ice-clad and snow-bound and 
in the clutch of a terrible freeze. The windows were so 
clouded with frost that he could not see out until he had 
melted it with his bTeath, .but when the frost had been 
melted, the boy cried out with grief, for there upon the 
window-sill huddled close to the glass was the stiff, stark 
form of his Bob-White. 

He had died with his breast to the window pane with 
only a sixeenth of an inch of transparent something be¬ 
tween him and the warmth that would have saved him. 
As pitilessly as the glacier grinds the pebble to sand the 
great freeze had pressed him against the window until his 
stout little heart was still, and then, as though ashamed 
of what she had done, nature had shrouded him in a white 
mantle of snow. 

With difficulty the boy raised the window and took the 
dead quail in his hands. Carefully he brushed the snow 
from his gray brown coat and smoothed out his ruffled 
feathers. 

It was a far cry from the warm spring morning, when 
he had first seen him on the old barpost whistling his 
cheery call, to this snow-bound frozen world that seemed 
more dead than alive. Poor little Bob-White; he had 
eluded the hawk, the owl and the weasel, the fox, the rac¬ 
coon and the hunter, but the great freeze had caught him, 
so near and yet so far from cover. With a sigh the boy 
put him back in the little snow grave on the window-sill 
and shut the window. There he would let him lie in his 
soft coverlet of ermine until the great storm was over. 


140 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


3. In Beaver Land* 

One afternoon, when the splendor of the autumnal for¬ 
est had begun to pale, and grays and browns had partially 
taken the place of saffron and gold and flaming red, we 
floated down into the pleasant valley that I call beaver- 
land. 

For three or four miles above the first of the chain of 
five lakes, there were plenty of signs that beaver dwelt 
not far distant. The first intimation that we had of being 
near the colony, was the stumps of hundreds of poplars 
and maples. These stumps were conical in shape and 
where the tree had not yet quite succumbed to these active 
rodents, it was shaped like an hour-glass. The largest of 
these trees were two or two and a half feet in diameter, but 
the guide told me that he had occasionally seen trees three 
or four feet in diameter that had fallen beneath the teeth of 
these ambitious woodsmen. 

Further on down the valley we occasionally saw a log 
that had lodged against some root or projection in the 
bank. This log was on its way to the dam perhaps, where 
it would be worked into that structure, or maybe it was 
intended for food and would be stored under the ice, for use 
during the long winter. 

As we drifted further and further into beaver-land, the 
wonder of it all grew upon me. It did not seem so won¬ 
derful that a beaver should fell one tree, or half a dozen, 
but when I saw acres of timber nearly stripped by these 
wonderful animals my respect for all four-footed creatures 
grew. 

The five lakes that comprised beaver-land were like a 
series of locks in a canal, each lake setting back to the 
dam of the one above. My companion told me that beaver 
dams were usually in pairs one above the other. He said 


♦From “Trails to Woods and Waters/' by Clarence Hawkes. Re¬ 
printed by courtesy of George W. Jacobs and Co., Philadelphia, pub¬ 
lishers and copyrighters. 



THE BROWNIE BOOK 


141 

it was hard to tell why the beaver built in this way, but 
his own theory was that the wise builder kept the upper 
lake as a reservoir, for he always built his house in the 
lower lake, with this second lake at his command, if the 
first dam sprung a-leak and the water fell so as to expose 
the beaver houses to attack, the beaver could repair the 
leak in the dam, and immediately fill the lower lake from 
the upper, without waiting for it to fill in the natural way. 
If this is the real secret for these double lakes, it looks 
very much as though the beavers were capable of planning 
on their own account. When we saw cords and cords of 
poplar and maple wood, cut into pieces about three feet in 
length piled up in front of each dam, we were again forced 
to believe that the beaver is a planner. 

Some of the beaver houses which were old were so over¬ 
grown with water grasses that they looked like small hill¬ 
ocks in the lake, while others were smooth and symmetri¬ 
cal, as though they were fresh from the mason’s trowel. 
Another thing that looked much as though the beaver 
could plan for himself, were certain breakwaters running 
out into the stream above the upper lake. They were alter¬ 
nated, and the guide said they were to break the force of 
the ice during the high water in springtime and to keep it 
from rushing down upon the dams and demolishing them. 
Another clever piece of work in beaver-land is a channel 
that is sometimes cut around the end of a dam, so that the 
water may flow off in a waste-water, and not wash the dam 
by its continual flow. 

The beavers caused us four hard portages around their 
dams that day, but by twilight we camped upon the lower 
of the five lakes close to the dam. The same evening 
after we had eaten our supper of broiled fish, biscuit and 
coffee, we drew our canoe up on the bank of the lake and 
prepared to watch the operation of dam building, which, 
from the newly cut logs and fresh mud that we saw upon 
the dam, we knew was going on. 

We tried the old ruse of displacing some logs and sods, 
in hopes that the little builders would discover the leak 


142 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


and come forth to repair the damage. I felt quite mean 
when I saw the rent that we had made in the structure, 
and was half inclined to repair the damage myself and 
trust to luck to see the beavers at work, but I was most 
desirous of seeing the little builders on the spot and so 
suffered the water to stream through the break. 

We took a commanding position in a tall pine near the 
dam from which we could see far up the lake and across 
the low-lying valley in every direction. It was rather 
tedious waiting, holding on to an uncertain perch forty or 
fifty feet up in the pine. We soon got cramped and stiff, 
but the game for which we were out was an exciting 
one, and our anticipation helped while away the two solid 
hours that passed before we saw much that interested us. 

How still it was between the night cries that came to our 
ears from the distant forest. There was always the low 
gurgling glee of the water as it slipped through the hole 
that we had made in the dam, but when the hooting of an 
owl or the barking of a fox had died away and we had only 
the soft sighing of the wind in the pines, and the murmur 
of the water, the wilderness seemed like some enchanted 
land upon which there had been laid a spell of silence, deep 
and abiding. 

The heavens were so studded with stars that it seemed 
as though there was not room for another, while the milky- 
way glowed white and luminous. The Hunter’s Moon was 
at its full and flooded the distant vistas of the forest with 
a light almost as bright as day. Every star in heaven and 
the great luminous moon were reflected in the lake, which 
shimmered and sparkled almost phosphorescently. It was 
a scene to make one draw long deep breaths, and the pulse 
to beat fast and strong. 

Some distance upstream, probably a mile away, we heard 
a tree fall with a thundering crash, which echoed across 
the lake again and again. From the sound we knew that 
a tree not less than two feet had been laid low. 

We had concluded that the energies of the colony were 
all employed in tree cutting for that night and were about 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


143 


to descend, when we noticed several short logs floating 
down towards the dam; they seemed to be floating much 
faster than the current would naturally carry them and 
we were at first unable to account for it, but when the logs 
got nearer to the dam we made out the dark head of a 
beaver floating behind each log and the rapidity with which 
the logs had floated was explained. Each was being pushed 
by an energetic log driver. 

When within about a hundred feet of the dam the bea¬ 
vers evidently discovered the damage that we had done, 
for they left their logs and swam hurriedly to the break. 
One climbed into the crevasse and tried to pull the ends 
of projecting sticks together. All seemed much excited, 
for they swam to and fro, now disappearing under the 
water, as though they had dove to the bottom to see how 
far down the break extended, and then reappearing in the 
break. We thought we counted half a dozen, but they 
disappeared so suddenly and reappeared in such unex¬ 
pected places the we were not sure of their number. 

Finally all swam away upstream where they were gone 
about twenty minutes. But they soon returned pushing 
alder and willow bushes before them in the water. These 
they stuck into the foundation of the dam, filling the gap 
with a row of stakes or pickets. So far they had set to 
work just as a farmer would mend a brush fence. Then 
they went away upstream again and reappeared in about 
the same time that they had before. This time they 
brought more brush, which they wove between the stakes, 
laterally. This was evidently the backbone, for they soon 
brought sods, which they floated in the water just as they 
had the sticks, and laid them in front of the brush fence 
that they had already built. The current carried the sods 
into all the crevasses and the flow of water was lessened 
but it was not until they had carried sods and mud for 
an hour that the break was entirely filled. In a day or 
two when the mud and sod had dried, the repairs on the 
dam would not be noticed. 

Several times that night we heard the crash of falling 


144 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


trees and as stray logs occasionally floated down and 
lodged against the dam, we concluded that quite a gang 
were engaged in wood-cutting further up the lake. 

After we had descended the old pine and returned to 
camp, the guide told me many interesting things about the 
beaver. 

The beaver seems to be a very social fellow, living in 
communities. His family life also seems to be very pleas¬ 
ant, for sometimes there will be fifteen or even twenty 
beavers living in the very largest lodges. 

A family always comprises the old beavers, the babies, 
the yearlings, and the two year olds, but when they reach 
that age they are shoved out into the world to make room 
for the new babies. But this home-leaving is probably 
no hardship for them, for the mating instinct is by that 
time asserting itself, and they seek out mates and make 
homes for themselves. 

The dam building instinct of the beaver is one of the 
most remarkable instincts in the animal kingdom. 

It enables its possessors to build dams of wonderful 
symmetry and size; structures that it would seem impos¬ 
sible for such small creatures to build. 

The beaver’s dam is built for protection, to make a little 
Venice where he shall be secure from his enemies. Just 
as the feudal lords of old surrounded their castles with 
moats, he surrounds his lodge with a broad lake, so that 
his enemies cannot get at him as easily as they otherwise 
would. The entrance to his house is always under water, 
and to protect himself against low water, which would 
sometimes be felt in a stream, he dams the stream, and 
thus makes sure of keeping the water above his dangerous 
passage. The lake also serves as a place of storage for 
the beaver’s great supply of wood, which is his food in 
winter. If it were not for his dam, the wood would prob¬ 
ably be swept downstream, and the beaver, who is locked 
under the ice in winter, would have to go hungry. 

In France the beavers are nearly all bank beavers, and 
do not build houses. Probably, because the streams are 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


145 


deep and sluggish, and the water is of a uniform depth 
for the entire year, but in America nearly all the beavers 
are house-builders. Once in a while a bank beaver is 
found in this country. He makes his home in a burrow in 
the bank, as the otter does, but his life is not as well or¬ 
dered as that of the house beaver. 

The wood-cutting habit of the beaver is as remarkable 
as his dam-building instinct. When we see trees three or 
four feet in diameter laid low, by these industrious rodents, 
we cannot deny that they have patience, and pluck. 

In cutting down trees the beaver stands upon his hind 
legs, balancing himself on his broad flat tail, and nips a 
girdle about the tree. He then cuts another girdle above 
the first, and pulls out the chip between. This process 
is repeated until the forest monarch falls. Usually, how¬ 
ever, they confine themselves to trees a foot or less in 
diameter, as these logs are more easily handled, both in 
dam building and as food. 

“As busy as a beaver” is a proverb, but like many an¬ 
other proverb, it is only partly true. For two or three 
months in the year the beaver is a very busy fellow, but 
the rest of the year, he is one of the laziest inhabitants of 
woods and waters. All through the winter, from the time 
that the first thick ice locks him under the water, until it 
breaks up in the spring, he sleeps in his lodge. When hun¬ 
gry he nibbles away at his store of bark and if he wants ex¬ 
ercise he goes for a swim in the lake to keep up his muscle. 
Then when the spring rains unlock the ice door above him, 
and he is free again, the male beaver who is over three 
years of age, goes on his annual pilgrimage, through lakes 
and streams. 

He does not care much where he goes, as long as he can 
find plenty of water with timber or brush near by. 

All through the summer months he wanders, living a day 
or a week in a place, as the humor seizes him. 

When the first frost touches the soft maples along the 
waterways, he turns his nose homeward. 

Meanwhile the female beavers have been rearing the 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


I46 

young, and looking after the yearlings and the two year 
olds. 

Once the males return to the colony the scene changes 
and from being an indolent happy-go-lucky community it 
becomes a village of industry, for the dam must be re¬ 
paired and all the mud houses made ready for winter. 
There is also the winter supply of bark to cut, and in a 
large colony this means cords. 

Then on starlight nights when the moon is at its full, 
and the autumn wind whispers in the treetops, you will 
hear the trees falling with a crash, that echoes away and 
away through the silent forest, and across the peaceful 
beaver lake. 

Then you will see hundreds and probably thousands of 
small logs about three feet in length, floating downstream 
to the lake. The beaver has the same provident instinct 
as the bee, who prods the white clover and the goldenrod, 
bringing home their sweets, and storing it up against the 
time of dearth. Does this not look as though there was a 
calendar in the animal and insect world? 

What is more picturesque or pleasing in the many happy 
surprises of the wilderness than a beaver dam, holding in 
its strong arm a beautiful woodland lake? 

It does not look like a thing that was made by hands, or 
teeth or feet either, for that matter, but just as though it 
grew here, and was a part of nature . The ends of the logs 
are so ragged, and the whole structure is so overgrown 
with lichens and moss, and perhaps willows or alders that 
it seems part and parcel of nature’s handiwork. 

But as you fall to studying it and see how well it was 
placed, how that great boulder was made to brace the 
dam in the middle of the stream, or a tree made to hold 
one end, or how the natural features of the landscape were 
made to serve the beaver’s ends, you wonder at his cun¬ 
ning and his marvelous builder’s instinct. Then when you 
see his device for keeping the water from wearing the dam 
by constant overflow, which is nothing more or less than 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 147 

a waste-water dug about one end of the dam, you are still 
more deeply impressed with his sagacity. 

The beaver might have learned his house-building habit 
of the Indian, or perhaps the adobe house builders, so 
closely has he followed their plan. But he is wiser than 
they, for his front door is always locked. 

How can we deny the wonder and the mystery of this 
life in the beaver colony? The village with its sages and 
wise men, the household with its heads and its babes and 
youngsters, the strong wall or bulwark built about the city 
for the mutual protection of all. The supplies that have 
been stored up against the time of dearth and the inge¬ 
nious mind or instinct, if you like the word better, that 
meets and overcomes all these adverse conditions? 

This is the true test of man or beast, whether it be in 
the wilderness or the city, to meet and overcome adverse 
conditions and to make the desert bloom like the rose. 


PART 2. NATURE STUDY REFERENCES 

The Brownie Leader who cannot take time for study 
or wide reading and who wants to have a reliable source 
book for all the departments of Nature Study, should try 
to own the “Handbook of Nature Study,” by Anna Bots- 
ford Comstock, published by the Comstock Publishing 
Company, Ithaca, N. Y., 1920. This sizable volume (near¬ 
ly 1,000 pages) once seen, is indispensable, as it contains 
in systematic but at the same time readable and attrac¬ 
tive form, descriptions of hundreds of Birds, Fishes, Mam¬ 
mals, Insects and other Invertebrates, as well as of Plant 
Life, and the Earth and Sky. 

In a 24-page introduction, Miss Comstock tells what 
Nature Study is, what it should do for a child, its rela¬ 
tion to Health, when and how to give the lessons, its re¬ 
lation to concepts of Life and Death; field work and notes, 
pets, relation to drawing and composition, geography and 
arithmetic, gardening and agriculture. 

Each topic is taken up in somewhat the following way: 
First, a story, which is intended not to be read to the 
children, but for direct information for the Leader; then 
“leading thoughts” summarizing the main point; how to 
observe and methods of study, and questions. Poems are 
scattered throughout, and there are many illustrations. 

“The Homer of the Insect World” 

Another delightful source of stories and material is 
to be found in the works of Henri Fabre, the distinguished 
French scientist, whose work in entomology has won for 
him the name, “Homer of the Insect World.” His books 
are nearly all available now in English. 

For Brownie Leaders the following are especially 
recommended: 

1. Insect Adventures, by J. Henri Fabre. Selections from 
A. T. de Mattos' Translations of Fabre’s Souvenirs 
Entomologiques. Retold for Young People, by Louise 
148 


THE BROWNIE BOOK I49 

Seymour Hasbrouck. Published by Dodd, Mead, 1920, 
and also by World Book Company. 

2. The Story Book of Science, by J. Henri Fabre. Cen¬ 
tury Company, 1920. This includes chapters on many 
departments of natural science, such as simple physics, 
and geology, as well as plants and animals, told in 
dialogue form as the chronicle of a naturalist uncle 
teaching his young nieces and nephews to look at na¬ 
ture with seeing eyes. 

3. Gateway to Science. Under the title, “Little Gate¬ 
ways to Science,” Edith M. Patch has made for very 
little children story introductions to all sorts of natural 
science. The book is published by the Atlantic Monthly 
Press. 

4. Stories of Nature. Eva March Tappan, whose history 
stories are well known, has written “Stories of Nature” 
(Houghton Mifflin), which, like Fabre’s Story Book, 
takes up general science as well as merely plants and 
animals. 


PART 3. NATURE POETRY 


Next to stories, poems are perhaps the best way of giv¬ 
ing children a feeling for and intelligent interest in, Na¬ 
ture. 

The following have been selected as illustrations of 
various styles which are neither nursery rhymes nor re¬ 
flective, philosophical or mystical. Most of them represent 
humor, pathos, and in general the “human touch”; others 
make a purely decorative appeal to brightness and color 
and sound. 

Addison’s “Hymn” stands apart from the rest in giving 
a sense of universality, and also because of its power of 
evoking delight in form by its distinctive use of words. 

Most of the poems are reprinted from “The Golden 
Staircase,” an anthology of poetry for children, chosen by 
Louey Chisholm. The edition published by G. P. Put¬ 
nam’s Sons, New York and London, 1920. This is with¬ 
out doubt the best collection of this kind, and as de¬ 
servedly popular as Palgrave’s “Golden Treasury,” for 
older people. 


Jack Frost* 

The door was shut, as doors should be, 
Before you went to bed last night; 

Yet Jack Frost has got in, you see, 

And left your window silver white. 

He must have waited till you slept; 

And not a single word he spoke, 

But pencilled o’er the panes and crept 
Away again before you woke. 

And now you cannot see the trees 

Nor fields that stretch beyond the lane; 
But there are fairer things than these 
His fingers traced on every pane. 

♦Chisholm, “Golden Staircase,’’ p. 73. 

150 



THE BROWNIE BOOK 


Rocks and castles towering high; 

Hills and dales and streams and fields; 

And knights in armour riding by, 

With nodding plumes and shining shields. 

And here are little boats, and there 

Big ships with sails spread to the breeze; 
And yonder, palm-trees waving fair 
On islands set in silver seas. 

And butterflies with gauzy wings; 

And herds of cows and 1 flocks of sheep; 

And fruit and flowers and all the things 
You see when you are sound asleep. 

For, creeping softly underneath 

The door when all the lights are out, 

Jack Frost takes every breath you breathe 
And knows the things you think about. 

He paints them on the window-pane 
In fairy lines with frozen steam; 

And when you wake you see again 
The lovely things you saw in dream. 

—Gabriel Setoun. 

The Sparrow’s Nest* 

Nay, only look what I have found! 

A Sparrow’s Nest upon the ground; 

A Sparrow’s Nest, as you may see. 

Blown out of yonder old elm-tree. 

And what a medley thing it is! 

I never saw a nest like this,— 

Not neatly wove with decent care, 

Of silvery moss and' shining hair; 

But put together, odds and ends, 

Picked up from enemies and friends; 

See, bits of thread, and bits of rag, 

Just like a little rubbish bag! 

Here is a scrap of red and brown, 

Like the old washer-woman’s gown; 

And here is muslin, pink and green, 

And bits of calico between. 


♦Chisholm, “Golden Staircase,” p. 77. 



152 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


Oh, never thinks the lady fair, 

As she goes by with dainty air, 

How the pert Sparrow overhead, 

Has robbed her gown to make its bed! 

See, hair of dog and fur of cat, 

And rovings of a worsted mat, 

And shreds of silk, and many a feather. 
Compacted cunningly together! 

Well, here has hoarding been, and hiving, 
And not a little good contriving, 

Before a home of peace and ease 
Was fashioned out of things like these! 

Think, had these odds and ends been brought 
To some wise man renowned for thought, 
Some man, of men a very gem, 

Pray, what could he have done with them? 

If we had said, “Here, sir, we bring 
You many a worthless little thing, 

Just bits and scraps, so very small, 

That they have scarcely size at all; 

“And out of these, you must contrive 
A dwelling large enough for five; 

Neat, warm and snug; with comfort stored; 
Where five small things may lodge and board.” 

How would the men of learning vast 
Have been astonished and aghast; 

And vowed that such a thing had been 
Ne’er heard of, thought of, much less seen! 

Ah! man of learning, you are wrong! 

Instinct is, more than wisdom, strong, 

And He who made the Sparrow, taught 
This skill beyond your reach of thought. 

And here in this uncostly nest, 

Five little creatures have been blest; 

Nor have kings known, in palaces, 

Half their contentedness in this— 

Poor, simple dwelling as it is! 


—Mary Howitt. 


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153 


The Camel's Hump* 

(from “Just-So Stories") 

The camel's hump is an ugly lump 
Which well you may see at the Zoo; 

But uglier yet is the hump we get 
From having too little to do. 

Kiddies and grown-ups too-oo-oo, 

If we haven't enough to do-oo-oo, 

We get the hump— 

Cameelious hump— 

The hump that is black and blue! 

We climb out of bed with a frouzly head 
And a snarly-yarly voice; 

We shiver and scowl, and we grunt and we growl 
At our bath and our boots and our toys; 

And there ought to be a corner for me 
(And I know there is one for you) 

When we get the hump— 

Cameelious hump— 

The hump that is black and blue! 

The cure for this ill is not to sit still, 

Or frowst with a book by the fire; 

But to take a large hoe and a shovel also, 

And dig till you gently perspire; 

And then you will find that the sun and the wind, 
And the Djinn of the Garden too, 

Have lifted the hump— 

The horrible hump— 

The hump that is black and blue! 

I get it as well as you-oo-oo 
If I haven’t enough to do-oo-oo, 

We all get the hump— 

Cameelious hump— 

Kiddies and grown-ups too! 

—Rudyard Kipling. 


♦Chisholm, “Golden Staircase," p. 83. 



154 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


The Sea Gull* 

Oh, the white Sea-gull, the wild Sea-gull, 

A joyful bird is he, 

As he lies like a cradled thing at rest 
In the arms of a sunny sea! 

The little waves rock to and fro, 

And the white Gull lies asleep, 

As the fisher’s bark, with breeze and tide, 
Goes merrily over the deep. 

The ship, with her fair sails set, goes by, 
And her people stand to note 

How the Sea-gull sits on the rocking waves, 
As if in an anchored boat. 

The sea is fresh, the sea is fair, 

And the sky calm overhead, 

And the Sea-gull lies on the deep, deep sea, 
Like a king in his royal bed! 

Oh, the white Sea-gull, the bold Sea-gull, 

A joyful bird is he, 

Throned like a king, in calm repose 
On the breast of the heaving sea! 

The waves leap up, the wild wind blows. 
And the Gulls together crowd, 

And wheel about, and madly scream 
To the deep sea roaring loud. 

And let the sea roar ever so loud, 

And the winds pipe ever so high, 

With a wilder joy the bold Sea-gull 
Sends forth a wilder cry.— 

For the Sea-gull, he is a daring bird, 

And he loves with the storm to sail; 

To ride in the strength of the billowy sea, 
And to breast the driving gale! 

The little boat, she is tossed about 
Like a sea-weed, to and fro; 

The tall ship reels like a drunken man, 

As the gusty tempests blow. 


♦Chisholm, “Golden Staircase,” p. 91. 



THE BROWNIE BOOK 


155 


But the Sea-gull laughs at the fear of man. 
And sails in a wild delight 
On the torn-up breast of the night-black sea. 
Like a foam-cloud, calm and white. 

The waves may rage and the winds may roar, 
But he fears not wreck nor need; 

For he rides the sea, in its stormy strength, 

As a strong man rides his steed! 


Oh, the white Sea-gull, the bold Sea-gull! 

He makes on the shore his nest, 

And he tries what the inland fields may be; 

But he loveth the sea the best! 

And away from land a thousand leagues. 
He goes 'mid surging foam; 

What matter to him is land or shore. 

For the sea is his truest home! 


And away to the north, ’mid ice-rocks stern. 
And amid the frozen snow. 

To a sea that is lone and desolate. 

Will the wanton Sea-gull go. 

For he careth not for the winter wild, 

Nor those desert regions chill; 

In the midst of the cold, as on calm blue seas, 
The Sea-gull hath his will! 


And the dead whale lies on the northern shores. 
And the seal, and the sea-horse grim, 

And the death of the great sea-creatures makes 
A full merry feast for him! 

Oh, the wild Sea-gull, the bold Sea-gull! 

As he screams in his wheeling flight; 

As he sits on the waves in storm or calm, 

All cometh to him aright! 

All cometh to him as he liketh best; 

Nor any his will gainsay; 

And he rides on the waves like a bold young king, 
That was crowned but yesterday! 

—Mary Howitt. 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


156 


Great, Wide, Beautiful, Wonderful World* 

Great, wide, beautiful, wonderful World, 

With the wonderful water round you curled, 

And the wonderful grass upon your breast— 

World, you are beautifully drest. 

The wonderful air is over me. 

And the wonderful wind is shaking the tree, 

It walks on the water, and whirls the mills, 

And talks to itself on the tops of the hills. 

You friendly Earth! how far do you go, 

With the wheat-fields that nod and the rivers that flow, 
With cities and gardens, and cliffs and isles, 

And people upon you for thousands of miles? 

Ah, you are so great, and I am so small, 

I tremble to think of you, World, at all; 

And yet, when I said my prayers today, 

A whisper inside me seemed to say, 

“You are more than the Earth, though you are such a dot 
You can love and think, and the Earth can not!” 

—W. B. Rands. 


Llewellyn and His Dogt 

The spearman heard the bugle sound, 
And cheerily smiled the morn; 

And many a brach, and many a hound, 
Obeyed Llewellyn’s horn. 

And still he blew a louder blast. 

And gave a louder cheer; 

“Come, Gelert, come, wert never last 
Llewellyn’s horn to hear! 

“Oh, where does faithful Gelert roam? 

The flower of all his race! 

So true, so brave—a lamb at home, 

A lion in the chase!” 


•Chisholm, “Golden Staircase,” p. 108. 
tChisholm, “Golden Staircase,” p. 138. 



THE BROWNIE BOOK 


157 


That day Llewellyn little loved 
The chase of hart or hare; 

And scant and small the booty proved. 
For Gelert was not there. 


Unpleased Llewellyn homeward hied, 
When, near the portal-seat, 

His truant, Gelert, he espied, 
Bounding his lord to greet. 


But when he gained his castle-door, 

Aghast the chieftain stood; 

The hound all o’er was smeared with gore— 
His lips, his fangs ran blood! 

Llewellyn gazed with fierce surprise, 
Unused such looks to meet* 

His favourite checked his joyful guise, 

And crouched and licked his feet. 

Onward in haste Llewellyn passed— 

And on went Gelert too— 

And still, where’er his eyes were cast, 

Fresh blood-gouts shocked his view! 

O’erturned his infant’s bed he found, 

The bloodstained cover rent, 

And all around, the walls and ground, 

With recent blood besprent. 


He called his child—no voice replied; 

He searched—with terror wild; 

Blood! blood! he found on every side, 

But nowhere found the child! 

“Hell-hound! my child’s by thee devoured!” 
The frantic father cried; 

And, to the hilt, his vengeful sword 
He plunged in Gelert’s side! 


His suppliant looks, as prone he fell, 
No pity could impart; 

But still his Gelert's dying yell 
Passed heavy o’er his heart. 


158 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


Aroused by Gelert’s dying yell. 

Some slumberer wakened nigh: 

What words the parent’s joy can tell, 

To hear his infant cry? 

Concealed beneath a tumbled heap, 

His hurried search had missed, 

All glowing from his rosy sleep 
The cherub-boy he kissed. 

Nor scathe had he, nor harm, nor dread— 

But the same couch beneath 

Lay a gaunt wolf, all torn and dead— 
Tremendous still in death! 

Ah! what w r as then Llewellyn’s pain, 

For now the truth was clear: 

The gallant hound the wolf had slain. 

To save Llewellyn’s heir. 

Vain, vain was all Llewellyn’s woe; 

“Best of thy kind, adieu! 

The frantic deed which laid thee low 
This heart shall ever rue!” 

And now a gallant tomb they raise, 

With costly sculpture decked; 

And marbles, storied with his praise. 

Poor Gelert’s bones protect. 

Here never could the spearman pass, 

Or forester, unmoved; 

Here oft the tear-besprinkled grass 
Llewellyn’s sorrow proved. 

And here he hung his horn and spear, 

And there, as evening fell, 

In fancy's ear he oft would hear 
Poor Gelert’s dying yell. 

—The Hon. W. R. Spencer. 


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159 


The Arab’s Farewell to His Steed* 

My beautiful! my beautiful! thou standest meekly by, 

With thy proudly arched and glossy neck, and dark and fiery eye; 
Fret not to roam the desert now with all thy winged speed,— 

1 may not mount on thee again,—thou’rt sold, my Arab steed! 
Fret not with that impatient hoof,—snuff not the breezy wind; 
The furthest that thou flies now, so far am I behind: 

The stranger hath thy bridle rein—thy master hath his gold— 
Fleet limbed and beautiful, farewell! thou’rt sold, my steed— 
thou’rt sold! 

Farewell! those free untired limbs full many a mile must roam, 

To reach the chill and wintry sky which clouds the stranger’s 
home; 

Some other hand, less fond, must now thy corn and bread 
prepare; 

The silky mane I braided once must be another’s care! 

The morning sun shall dawn again, but never more with thee 
Shall I gallop through the desert paths, where we were wont 
to be: 

Evening shall darken on the earth; and o’er the sandy plain 
Some other steed, with slower step, shall bear me home again. 

Yes, thou must go! the wild free breeze, the brilliant sun and sky, 
Thy master’s home—from all of these my exiled one must fly: 
Thy proud, dark eye will grow less proud, thy step become less 
fleet, 

And vainly shalt thou arch thy neck thy master’s hand to meet. 
Only in sleep shall I behold that dark eye glancing bright, 

Only in sleep shall hear again that step so firm and light; 

And when I raise my dreaming arm to check or cheer thy speed, 
Then must I starting wake, to feel—thou’rt sold, my Arab steed. 

Ah! rudely then, unseen by me, some cruel hand may chide, 

Till foam-wreaths lie, like crested waves, along thy panting side: 
And the rich blood that is in thee swells in thy indignant pain, 
Till careless eyes which rest on thee may count each started vein. 
Will they ill-use thee? If I thought—but no, it cannot be; 

Thou art so swift, yet easy curbed; so gentle, yet so free: 

And yet, if haply, when thou’rt gone, my lonely heart shall yearn, 
Can the hand which casts thee from it now command thee to 
return? 


♦Chisholm, “Golden Staircase,’’ p. 145. 



i6o 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


Return! alas, my Arab steed! what shall thy master do, 

When thou wfho wert his all of joy hast vanished from his view? 
When the dim distance cheats mine eye, and through the gather¬ 
ing tears 

Thy bright form for a moment like the false mirage appears? 

Slow and unmounted will I roam, with weary feet alone, 

Where with fleet step and joyous bound thou oft has borne me on; 
And sitting down by the green well, I'll pause and sadly think, 
"’Twas here he bowed his glossy neck when last I saw him 
drink!" 

When last I saw thee drink!—away! the fevered dream is o’er; 

I could not live a day and know that we should meet no more. 
They tempted me, my beautiful! for hunger’s pow r er is strong; 
They tempted me, my beautiful! but I have loved too long. 

Who said that I had given thee up? Who said that thou wert 
sold? 

*Tis false!—’tis false, my Arab steed! I fling them back their 
gold! 

Thus, thus, I leap upon thy back, and scour the distant plains; 
Away! who overtakes us now shall claim thee for his pains! 

—The Hon. Caroline Norton. 


The Sandpiper* 

Across the narrow beach we flit. 

One little sandpiper and I, 

And fast I gather, bit by bit. 

The scattered driftwood bleached and dry. 
The wild waves reach their hands for it, 
The wild wind raves, the tide runs high, 

As up and down the beach we flit,— 

One little sandpiper and I. 

Above our heads the sullen clouds 
Scud black and swift across the sky; 

Like silent ghosts in misty shrouds 
Stand out the white lighthouses high. 
Almost as far as eye can reach 
I see the close-reefed vessels fly, 

As fast we flit along the beach,— 

One little sandpiper and I. 


♦Chisholm, "Golden Staircase," p. 230. 



THE BROWNIE BOOK 


161 


I watch him as he skims along 

Uttering his sweet and mournful cry; 

He starts not at my fitful song. 

Or flash of fluttering drapery. 

He has no thought of any wrong, 

He scans me with a fearless eye. 

Staunch friends are we, well tried and strong. 

The little sandpiper and I. 

Comrade, where wilt thou be tonight, 

When the loosed storm breaks furiously? 

My driftwood fire will burn so bright! 

To what warm shelter canst thou fly? 

I do not fear for thee, though wroth 
The tempest rushes through the sky: 

For are we not God’s children both. 

Thou, little sandpiper, and I? 

—Celia Thaxter. 


English Weather 

“January brings the snow 
Makes our feet and fingers glow; 

February brings the rain 
Thaws the frozen lake again; 

March brings breezes loud and shrill 
Stirs the dancing daffodil; 

April comes with many showers 

Fills the children’s hands with flowers; 

May brings pretty flocks of lambs 
Skipping by their fleecy dams; 

June brings tulips, lilies, roses 

Fills the children’s hands with posies; 

Hot July brings cooling showers 
Apricots and gillie flowers; 

August brings the sheaves of corn 
Then the harvest home is borne; 

Warm September brings the fruit 
Sportsmen then begin to shoot; 

Fresh October brings the pheasant 
Then to gather nuts is pleasant; 

Dull November brings the blast 
Then the leaves are withering fast; 

Cold December brings the sleet 

Blazing fire and Christmas treat!” 


i 62 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


Clovers 

“The clovers have no time to play, 

They feed the cows and make the hay. 

And trim the lawns and help the bees 
Until the sun sinks through the trees 

And then they lay aside their cares 
And fold their hands to say their prayers." 

—Helen L. Jeliffe. 


Wild Geese* 

The wind blows, the sun shines, the birds sing loud, 

The blue, blue sky is flecked with fleecy, dappled cloud; 

Over earth's rejoicing fields the children dance and sing. 

And the frogs pipe in chorus, “It is spring! It is spring!" 

The grass comes, the flower laughs where lately lay the snow, 

O'er the breezy hilltop hoarsely calls the crow, 

By the flowing river the alder catkins swing, 

And the frogs pipe in chorus, “It is spring! It is spring!" 

Hark, what a clamor goes winging through the sky! 

Look, children! Listen to the sound so wild and high! 

Like a peal of broken bells—kling, klang, kling— 

Far and high the wild geese cry, “Spring! It is spring!" 

Bear the winter off with you, O wild geese dear! 

Carry all the cold away, far away from here; 

Chase the snow into the north, O strong of heart and wing, 
While we share the robin’s rapture, crying, “Spring! It is spring!” 

—Celia Thaxter. 


♦Can be sung to the old tune, “Ninety-nine Bottles a-Hanging 
on the Wall." 



THE BROWNIE BOOK 


163 


Jack-in-the-Pulpit 


“Jack-In-The-Pulpit 
Preaches today 
Under the green trees 
Just over the way. 

Squirrel and song sparrow 
High on their perch 
Hear the sweet lily-bells 
Ringing to church. 

“Come hear what his reverence 
Rises to say 

In his low, painted pulpit 
This calm Sabbath day. 

Fair is the canopy 
Over him spread 
Pencilled by nature’s hand 
Black, brown and red. 

“Green is his surplice 
Green are his bands, 

In his queer little pulpit 
The little priest stands. 

The violets are deacons 
I know’ by the sign, 

The cups which they carry 
Are purple with wine. 

“And the columbines 
Bravely as sentinels stand 
On the lookout with all 
Their red trumpets in hand. 
Meek-faced anemones 
Drooping and sad 
Great yellow violets 
Smiling and glad. 

“Buttercup faces 
Beaming and bright 
Clovers in bonnets 
Some red and some white. 
Dandelions proud of the 
Gold of their hair, 

Daisies their white fingers 
Half clasped in prayer. 


'Wild wood geraniums 
All in their best, 

Languidly leaning 
In purple gauze drest. 

All are assembled 
This calm Sabbath day 
To hear what the preacher 
In his pulpit will say. 

‘Look! white Indian pipes 
On the green mosses lie 
Who has been smoking 
Profanely so nigh! 

Rebuked by the preacher 
The mischief has stopped 
But the sinners in haste 
Have their little pipes dropped. 

'Let the wind with the fragrance 
Of fern and black birch 
Drive the smell of the smoking 
Clean out of the church. 

So much for the preacher, 

The sermon comes next, 

Shall we tell how he preached 
it 

And where was his text? 

‘Alas! like too many people 
Who worship in churches 
Man-builded today, 

We heard not the preacher 
Expound or discuss, 

But, we looked at the people 
And they looked at us! 

We saw all their dresses 
Their colors and shapes, 

‘The trim of their bonnets 
The cut of their capes, 

We heard the wind organ 
The bee and the bird 
But of Jack-In-The-Pulpit 
We heard not a word!" 


364 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


Hymn 

The spacious firmament on high, 

With all the blue ethereal sky, 

And spangled heavens, a shining frame, 

Their great Original proclaim. 

Th’ unwearied Sun from day to day 
Does his Creator’s power display; 

And publishes to every land 
The work of an Almighty hand. 

Soon as the evening shades prevail, 

The Moon takes up the wondrous tale; 

And nightly to the listening Earth 
Repeats the story of her birth: 

Whilst all the stars that round her burn, 

And all the planets in their turn, 

Confirm the tidings as they roll, 

And spread the news from pole to pole. 

What though in solemn silence all 
Move round the dark terrestrial ball; 

What though no real voice nor sound 
Amidst their radiant orbs be found? 

In Reason’s ear they all rejoice, 

And utter forth a glorious voice; 

For ever singing as they shine, 

“The Hand that made us is divine.” 

—Joseph Addison. 


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165 


Health! Strength! Joy! 



RULES OF 
THE HEALTH GAME 

1 A full bath more than once a week 

2 Brushing the teeth at least once every 

day 

3 Sleeping long hours with windows open 

4 Drinking as much milk as possible, but 

no coffee or tea 

5 Eating some vegetables or fruit every 

day 

6 Drinking at least four glasses of water a 

day 

7 Playing part of every day out of doors 

8 A bowel movement every morning 


Taken from “Teaching Health,” Bulletin of U. S. 
Dept, of the Interior, Bureau of Education. 






SECTION V 

HEALTHY BROWNIES 

The child has no interest in health as an end in itself. 

His interest is not in when, how, where, and why he should 
exercise. Given the natural opportunity, the activity comes. It 
needs inducing conditions and direction. 

Posture as an isolated thing holds no interest for the child. It 
makes its appeal only when correct carriage and posture help him 
to do what he wishes to do; to secure the rewards that seem to 
him desirable.—Mary Reesor. 

PART 1. INTRODUCTION 

The Brownie ages from seven through ten are in some 
ways the most important in relation to the future of the 
child. At this time the child is well past babyhood, and 
has not yet reached the point of fundamental and swifc 
changes that precede adolescence. For this reason there 
is an opportunity for the development of habits of eating, 
sleeping, playing and working without conflict with the 
home on the one hand, nor opposition from the individual 
on the other. Physically the child is in a relatively 
stable condition, which will not be the case again until 
full adulthood is reached. Growth, while steady, is at 
about the same rate, in the years seven, eight, nine and 
ten. Thus Terman (“The Hygiene of the School Child,” 
p. 24 ,) shows that girls increase in weight at a steady 
rate of between nine and ten per cent for each succeeding 
year at this period, while their heights vary at the rate 
of five and four per cent annually. During the next four 
years, however, girls are growing heavier at a varying 
rate, so that at eleven they have gained eleven per cent 
of their weight the preceding year, and at twelve, they 
have gained thirteen per cent over their weight at eleven 
years. 

Brownie Leaders should study carefully the various 
publications of the Child Health Organization, which 

166 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


16 ; 

are available at small cost throughout the country, either 
through the National Headquarters of the Child Health 
Organization, at 370 Seventh Avenue, New York City, 
or through the United States Bureau of Education which 
has reprinted much of the material gathered and devel¬ 
oped by the private organization. 

There are several reasons why the Brownie Leaders 
should get in touch with this organization. First, its 
leaders have put the available information about health, 
and particularly health habits, into teachable form. They 
have selected from the myriad facts now developed by 
science about bodily health, the most significant and com¬ 
prehensible. They have made the results of years of 
study of child specialists available, and directly related to 
the school and home life of the children. This material 
has been worked over and presented in a form appealing 
to the sense of beauty, as well as to fun and curiosity. 

The topics of nutrition and growth, are the most im¬ 
portant, and all the rules of the “Health Game” given 
at the head of this section, centre about these. Brownie 
Leaders should get the following pamphlets either from 
the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Education, 
Washington, D. C. or the Child Health Organization. 

1. “Teaching Health: Health Bulletin No. 4.” 

2 . “Further Steps in Teaching Health: Health Bulle¬ 
tin No. 6.” 

3. “Child Health Program for Parent-Teacher Asso¬ 
ciations and Women’s Clubs,” Health Education No. 5. 

4. “Child Health Alphabet,” by Mrs. Frederick Peter¬ 
son. (Published by Child Health Organization, 370 
Seventh Avenue, New York City.) 

With these pamphlets the Brownie Leader will have 
no difficulty in arranging a Health Program. The best 
way to begin will probably be to have the Brownie Band 
organized into a regular Nutrition Class, keeping a wall 
chart record of weekly growth. The reference weight 
table is given here. 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


J 


168 


HEIGHT and WEIGHT TABLE for GIRLS 



About What a GIRL Should Gain Each Month 

AGB AGE 

5 to 8.6oz. 14 to 16..8oz. 

8 to 11.8oz. 16 to 18 .4oz. 

11 to 14.12 oz. 

These cards maybe obtained from the CHILD HEALTH ORGANIZATION 
370 Seventh Avenue, New York 

Weights and measures should be taken without shoes and in only the usual indoor clothes, 
©, 1918 , by Child Health Organization 

























































BROWNIE EVEfiY DAY &0b< 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


169 













































170 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


The Brownie Every Day Book 

For the special use of Brownies the rules of the Health 
Game have been combined into “The Brownie Every Day 
Book.” This is a record form, to be used in complet¬ 
ing the Grade Tests; a sample page is shown in the 
accompanying sketch. 

The Brownies should make their own little books when 
possible. Perhaps a good way would be to have three 
books, the first for new Brownies, arranged with entries 
for three weeks; the second for Bees, who are to become 
Bob-Whites, arranged with entries for six weeks, and a 
third for nine weeks for the coming Beavers. 

The directions are for the most part quite self-explana¬ 
tory. Points that the Brownie Leader will probably have 
tc dwell on will be the following: (1) Four glasses of 
water between meals, means water drunk in addition to 
whatever may be taken at meals. Probably a good dis¬ 
tribution would be a glass of water on getting up; one 
sometime between breakfast and luncheon; one between 
luncheon and dinner, and one on going to bed. (2) The 
removal of all clothes worn in the day time should be in¬ 
sisted upon. It is still the custom with large numbers of 
the population to wear the same shirt day and night. 
(3) The bedtime is given arbitrarily as eight and eight- 
thirty. This for children is a more effective method than 
to make a general requirement of ten or eleven hours 
of sleep, the minimum allowance for this age. (Terman, 
362 ff.) 

Teeth—Instruction should be given very definitely as 
to how they should be cleaned; probably with “Tooth 
Brush Drills.” After breakfast and on going to bed are 
the best times for brushing the teeth. The use of salt and 
plain soap is suggested, particularly in cases where the 
matter of expense must be considered. The mouth, of 
course, should be washed before breakfast, but the use of 
the tooth brush is not recommended. 

The children ought also to be told quite definitely the 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


171 

facts about the first and permanent teeth, and the im¬ 
portance of caring for the first teeth, particularly the per¬ 
manent molars, which although first teeth, are not re¬ 
placed. 

Washing Hands—The habit of washing the hands be¬ 
fore eating, and always after going to the toilet, should 
be made as early and as automatic as possible. 

Nail biting, and putting the fingers in the mouth should 
of course, be discouraged as strictly as possible. 

Another point that will probably need perfectly defi¬ 
nite instruction is the proper use of handkerchiefs. Part 
of the Brownie inspection should be to find out if each 
child has a clean handkerchief. It should be impressed 
upon them that they are never either to lend or borrow 
a handkerchief, even a fresh one. 

A child with a cold should be encouraged to use a paper 
or gauze handkerchief, and told to destroy it. 

Reference Reading—In addition to the Child Health 
Organization publications, the single best reference for 
Brownie Leaders is “The Hygiene of the Child,” by Lewis 
M. Terman; published by Houghton Mifflin. This is com¬ 
plete and authoritative, and not too technical. 

2. TEN-MINUTE TWISTINGS 
Physical Exercises for Brownies* 

Teach by imitation. 

1. Scooping sand—Stand with the feet apart, gather 
up sand with both hands and throw vigorously over head 
10 times. 

2 . Windmill—Straighten R arm up and L arm down. 
Carry R arm forward and downward and L arm upward 
and backward, making a circle with each arm. 

3. Swimming—Feet apart, bend arms, palms down, 
elbows back. Next, raise arms forward, palms down. 

♦From “Course in Physical Training” (Grades I-VI) Dept. Pub. 
Inst., State New Jersey, Trenton, 1917, p. 33. 




172 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 


Last, turn arms, palms outward, swing sideward along 
the shoulders. 10 times. 

4. Ferryboat—Feet apart, arms raised sideward. Hold 
arms stationary and bend trunk first R, then L. 10 to 
16 times. 

5. Locomotive getting up speed—Bend R elbow, 
force back L arm, raise forward, hands clenched. Now 
change position of arms, pulling vigorously. Repeat 10 to 
16 times. Add leg exercise, bending one leg and then the 
other. Later, combine arms and legs. 

6. Jumping Jack—Clap hands behind hips, then spring 
feet apart and clap hands over head. Spring feet together 
and clap hands behind hips again. 10 to 16 times. 

7. Cowboys throwing lasso—Feet apart, place L hand 
across small of back and raise R hand above head; swing 
the R arm round and round, beginning in circles toward 
the head. At the end of 8 turns throw the hand forward 
as if throwing a lasso. Repeat, changing hands, 10 to 16 
times. 

8 . Teamsters warming up—Spring feet apart and raise 
arms sideward, palms facing forward. Now jump and 
cross the feet and at the same time fold arms with a clap, 
embracing yourself. Spring feet apart again and repeat, 
alternating crossing feet. 10 to 16 times. 

9. Shaking fruit from trees—Stand on tiptoe, arms raised 
high over head. Shake fruit from branches 8 to 10 times 
in quick rhythm. 

10 . Sewing machine—Running in place, hands on hips, 
start slowly and lightly, and gradually increase speed. 

11. Jack in box—Feet somewhat apart. Stoop down 
just a little on count 1 , on count 2 spring high in air. 8 
or 10 times. 

12. Rowing—Sit on desk, facing back of room, feet under 
seat. Bend trunk forward, arms outstretched, then bend 
arms and at same time raise trunk, leaning backward a 
little. 10 to 16 times. 


THE BROWNIE BOOK 173 

13. Flying—Run around room, arms waving like wings 
of birds. 

14. Chopping wood —Feet apart, raise ax over L shoul¬ 
der and chop down hard, then raise over R shoulder. Re¬ 
peat, changing shoulders, 10 to 16 times. 

15. Hoisting the sail—Feet apart, R arm extended, 
grasping rope above, L hand grasping rope below waist. 
Pull rope down with R hand, bending both knees at same 
time. Repeat, changing hands. Keep going in rhythm, 
10 to 16 times. 

16. Follow the leader —Class follow a chosen leader 
around the room, repeating his actions, such as clapping 
hands, skipping, etc. 

17. Marching. 

18. Hopping exercises —Hands on hips, hop 8 times on 
R foot; 8 times on L. 3 times. 

19. Jumping exercises —Hands on hips. Jump lightly 
on toes, either always landing in same place or springing 
feet apart and together. 

20. A minute run around room, lightly, on toes, alter¬ 
nate with skipping. 





























































































































































































































































































































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